FRANKFURT -- Not all the hot new-economy companies are in the United States.
Mobilcom, which grabbed 10 percent of the German long-distance market last year, on Tuesday announced a nine-fold rise in earnings in 1998.
Mobilcom reported net profit rose to 250.5 million marks (US$145 million) last year, compared to 28.7 million ($16.6 million) in 1997. Sales climbed more than four-fold as Mobilcom used rock-bottom pricing to lure customers from Deutsche Telekom.
Mobilcom has been one of the most successful shares on Frankfurt's technology-rich Neuer Market. It has gained more than 600 percent in the last 12 months, compared to a 13 percent gain for the blue-chip Xetra DAX index in the same period.
Analysts had expected Mobilcom to see a flattening of long-distance revenue in 1999 since Deutsche Telekom and other phone companies have slashed prices in the last two months. But Mobilcom may be able to offer a new Internet service to offset slower long-distance growth, analysts said.
The company began providing unlimited evening and weekend Internet access for 77 marks ($45) per month in December. It had to temporarily shut down the service when it was overwhelmed by users drawn by the flat-rate offer (the only one in Germany) but has seen resumed operations.
