Israel’s Bezeq Telecom Q1 Profit Gains On Efficiency Steps

Bezeq Israel Telecom reported a 15 percent rise in quarterly profit to beat estimates, saying cost-cutting measures helped it to overcome a decline in revenue stemming from intense competition.

Israel’s largest telecom group said on Thursday it earned 300 million shekels ($83 million) in the first quarter, compared with 260 million a year earlier.

Revenue slipped 4.4 percent to 2.26 billion shekels.

Bezeq, which is being investigated for securities offences and is the midst of a corporate shake-up, was forecast to earn 245 million shekels on revenue of 2.3 billion, according to a Reuters poll of analysts.

It maintained a 2019 net profit projection of 900 million to 1.0 billion shekels.―Reuters