Telecom Italia: 2001 Financial Statements Approved
Ordinary Dividend Amounting to 0.3125 Euro
Savings Dividend Amounting to 0.3237 Euro
The Telecom Italia ordinary shareholders´ meeting convened today, under the Chairmanship of Marco Tronchetti Provera.
The shareholders´ meeting examined and approved Telecom Italia S.p.A´s financial statements for 2001, which recorded revenues of 17,309 million euros, gross operating result equal to 7,571 million euros, operating income equal to 3,983 million euros and net income equal to 151 million euros, after non recurring charges equal to 3,760 million euros (2,498 million euros after lower fiscal charges for 1,262 million euros).
On the basis of this result, the meeting resolved to distribute a dividend amounting to 0.3125 euros per ordinary share and 0.3237 per savings share, substantially in line with the previous year, drawing upon income reserves from previous financial years up to a maximum of 2,184 million euros. The ex-dividend payment dated 20 May 2002, will be made on 23 May 2002.
In his letter to the shareholders´ Marco Tronchetti Provera, Chairman of Telecom Italia underlines: "The Telecom Italia Group occupies an extremely important place in Italy´s industrial scenario, both because of the high level it has reached technologically and the impressive level of professional skills to which it has access. In fact, we saw that what was needed was a more solid, more efficient productive and financial structure, which would reinforce its capacity to play a role of primary importance in the key sector of Information and communication technology. In order to achieve these objectives, in the first few months after we took over management of the Group, we carried out some important transformations. Firstly we completely reorganized the Group´s staffing and business structures. We also implemented a series of measures to bring about a decisive improvement in its level of efficiency and profitability."
"We adopted - the Chairman of Telecom Italia continues - a strict policy to control costs and investments, continued with the policy of divesting non-core activities and started a gradual program to restructure and reduce debt. Furthermore, we adopted accounting criteria that are a better reflection of the market values of some assets, particularly in the case of the foreign operations of the Group. Now that the period of special measures has more or less come to an end, we can start anew with a cycle of operations which aims to consolidate our strategy of creating value."
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The shareholders´ meeting ended at 21.30 pm. Therefore the announcement concerning the availability of the financial statements to the public as of tomorrow May 8. 2002 (as provided for by articles 77 and 83 of the regulation approved by Consob with resolution No. 11971/1999) cannot be published until Thursday May 9, 2002.