KPN plans to pay special dividend

Royal KPN said it will pay an extra €0

Royal KPN said it will pay an extra €0.13 special dividend over 2003, in addition to its earlier proposal for a dividend of €0.12, as part of plans to return cash to shareholders.

The company said it will also consider share buybacks and additional special dividends to return cash to shareholders.

KPN said it aims to pay a dividend of at least €0.20 per year. It will also start paying an interim dividend again from 2004.

The telecoms group reported fourth-quarter net profit excluding exceptional items of €178 million, up from €103 million a year earlier and in line with analysts' expectations of €134-285 million.

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Sales rose 7.1 per cent at the mobile division and 0.1 per cent at the fixed-line division. Total sales fell to €3.088 billion from €3.136 billion a year earlier.

EBITDA before exceptional items came in at €1.229 billion against €1.20 billion a year earlier and market forecasts of €1.180-1.323 billion.