(RTTNews) - Israeli telecommunications operator Partner Communications Co. Ltd. (PTNR: News ) Monday posted lower third-quarter profit, hurt by a decline in services revenues as well as expenses related to the ramp-up of the ISP and fixed telephony services.

Net income was NIS 263 million, or US$70 million, a decrease of 20.3% from NIS 330 million in the year-ago quarter. Earnings per share or ADS for the quarter were NIS 1.70 or US$0.45, down from NIS 2.12 last year.

The decrease primarily reflected the supplementary expenses related to the ramp-up of the ISP and fixed telephony services, as well as the impact of the reduction in service
revenues, including roaming revenues, the company said.

Net revenues for the quarter were NIS 1.58 billion or US$419 million, down 3.3% from NIS 1.63 billion in the year-ago quarter. Service revenues were NIS 1.39 billion or US$370 million, a decrease of 4.3% year-over-year.

Chief Executive David Avner said, "In a highly saturated market, our customer-oriented approach has enabled us to recruit an impressive 64 thousand subscribers, and we are proud to have surpassed 3 million subscribers."

Revenues from content and data services, excluding SMS, remained unchanged at NIS 128 million, or US$34 million. SMS service revenues increased 9.2% to NIS 95 million or US$25 million from NIS 87 million in 2008.

Non-capitalized equipment revenues were NIS 186 million or US$49 million, an increase of 5.1% from NIS 177 million in 2008. The increase in revenues reflects a significant
increase in the number of transactions and an increase in the revenue per transaction due to the higher proportion of 3G sales. Equipment revenues reduced by around NIS 58 million due to the capitalization of handset sales in 2009.
Selling, marketing, general and administration expenses amounted to NIS 187 million or US$50 million, an increase of 14.7% from NIS 163 million year-on-year.

Operating profit was NIS 401 million or US$107 million, a decrease of 23.2% from NIS 522 million last year.

Nine-month net income was NIS 847 million or US$225 million, down from NIS 908 million in the year-ago quarter. Earnings per share or ADS for the period were NIS 5.48 or US$1.46, down from NIS 5.77 last year.

Nine-month revenues declined to NIS 4.5 billion, or US$1.2 billion, from NIS 4.8 billion last year.

The Board of Directors declared a dividend of NIS 1.94 or US$0.52 per share or ADS for the third quarter to shareholders and ADS holders of record on November 25, payable December 10.

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