Annual Report 2008 Content 1 Elisa in brief 2 Report of the CEO 4 Consumer business 6 Corporate customers 8 Elisa Estonia 9 Personnel and the environment 12 The report of the Board of Directors and financial statements 70 Corporate Governance Shareholder Information General Meeting of Shareholders The Board of Directors proposes to the General Meeting Elisa’s 2009 Annual General Meeting will be held at the that dividends be distributed to shareholders to the amount Helsinki Fair Centre, Messuaukio 1, 00520 Helsinki, at 2:00 pm of EUR 0.60 per share on the basis of the balance sheet on Wednesday, 18 March 2009. of 31 December 2008 approved by the General Meeting. Shareholders registered in the company’s shareholder Shareholders who are listed in the company’s register of register maintained by the Euroclear Finland Ltd by 6 March shareholders maintained by the Euroclear Finland Ltd on 23 2009 are eligible to attend the Annual General Meeting. March 2009 are entitled to funds distributed by the General Shareholders must announce their intention to attend Meeting. The Board of Directors proposes that the payment the meeting by 6:00 pm (Finnish time) 9 March 2009. This date be 31 March 2009. The profit for the period shall be should be done either by writing to Elisa, Contact Center added to accrued earnings. Services/Sö A 6223, P.O. Box 30, FI-00061 ELISA, Finland; by telephone: +358 8000 6242 from Monday to Friday from Financial information 8:00 am to 6:00 pm; by fax: +358 10 262 2727; or by e-mail: Elisa will publish an annual report in electronic format [email protected]. and interim reports on 24 April 2009, 17 July 2009 and Shareholders are entitled to make proposals at the Annual 23 October 2009. The annual report and interim reports General Meeting and to address the meeting. Shareholders will be published in Finnish and English, and the annual report will exercise their voting rights according to their number of will be available in electronic format at www.elisa.fi. shares. Each share carries one vote, and final decisions are The annual report, interim reports, information about the made by voting. Annual General Meeting, stock exchange releases and other investor information are also posted on Elisa’s website at Profit distribution policy www.elisa.com under the heading Investors. In accordance with Elisa’s profit distribution policy, profit distribution is 40–60 per cent of the profit for the financial The contact person for Elisa’s Investor Relations period. Distribution of profit includes dividend payment, Vesa Sahivirta capital repayment and purchase of treasury shares. Director, IR and Financial Communications Tel. +358 10 262 3036, +358 50 520 5555 Fax +358 10 262 5723 e-mail [email protected] Elisa provides experiences for people and enhances productivity for organisations online. Revenue EBIT Key figures EUR million EUR million EUR million 2008 2007 2006 Revenue 1,485 1,568 1,518 EBITDA 472 499 434 EBIT 264 302 225 Profit before tax 228 285 212 ! ! Net result 177 220 161 Earnings per share, EUR 1.12 1.38 0.97 Research and product development 11 8 6 Investments in shares 15 12 10 Capital expenditures 184 206 207 Equity ratio, % 43 48 63 Gearing, % 93 71 29 Employees, 31 Dec 3,017 3,015 3,592 Elisa in brief Elisa is a leading Nordic communications services provider The number of 3G customers in Finland stood at some with operations in the Nordic countries, the Baltics and 1.7 million at the end of 2008. Elisa has an approximate Russia. Elisa focuses on developing consumer and corporate market share of 50 per cent of 3G users. ICT and online services. Elisa's global alliance partners are An important investment in 2008 was the construction Vodafone and Telenor. of the 3G network that enables faster mobile broadband. Elisa’s business operations comprise consumer business, By the end of 2008, Elisa’s 3G network covered 250 local- corporate customer business and Estonian business. ities and more than 80 per cent of Finland’s population. Elisa is the market leader in fixed and mobile broadband According to studies, it was the best network in terms of as well as new-generation 3G mobile communications services coverage, range and quality. in Finland. Our services are provided under the Elisa and Elisa’s profit distribution in 2008 included a capital Saunalahti brands. repayment and the purchase of treasury shares. The shareholders at Elisa’s General Meeting decided that share- Elisa in 2008 holders shall receive a capital repayment of EUR 1.80 per The global economy witnessed a lot of turbulence in 2008. share on the basis of the balance sheet dated 31 December Governments rescued banks, and state aid packages were 2007 approved by the General Meeting. In August and created in order to resuscitate economic activity. However, September, Elisa acquired three million treasury shares valued the telecom operator business did not suffer signifi- cant at approximately EUR 43 million. amounts of economic instability during the report year. Substantial changes took place in Elisa’s shareholding Earnings in 2008 were burdened by the introduction of a during the operating year. Through a transaction with new invoicing and customer management system early in the Novator, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company acquired a year, but as the challenges relating to the deployment of the holding of slightly less than 15 per cent of Elisa’s share capital system were resolved, an obvious improvement in perform- and voting rights. In accordance with a mutual agreement ance was seen towards the end of the year. The streamlining between the Finnish Government and Varma, the Government measures moreover enhanced profitability and the EBITDA purchased a portion of the shares involved, bringing the margin in Q4 already rose to 35 per cent. Government holding up to 9.6 per cent and Varma’s holding Elisa’s market position strengthened further in 2008, down to 6.1 per cent. Earlier in the summer, the aggregate particularly with regard to 3G services and mobile broad- ownership of DNA Oy, Lännen Puhelin Oy, Oulun Puhelin band. During the report year, the 3G market was a good Holding Oyj, Kuopion Puhelin Sijoitus Oy and PHP Liiketoiminta booster for the development of the entire industry. Oyj exceeded 5 per cent of Elisa’s shares and votes. Elisa in brief – Elisa Corporation Annual Report 2008 1 Veli-Matti Mattila, CEO: Experiences and productivity in everyday Finnish life Report of the CEO Every Elisa employee wants to create experiences and Elisa and Saunalahti were the first Finnish providers of productivity online. We are involved in our customers’ mini laptops, which have become hugely popular all around everyday life by developing communications services that the world. They are particularly suitable for consumers enable Finns to benefit from fast and reliable data networks who appreciate a mobile lifestyle and want to have easy in business and leisure. This is our contribution to building a and fast access to the Internet. The Saunalahti Kotitotaali more environmentally friendly and better society. broadband package and SaunaVisio set-top box are good Our objective is to provide every Finn with access to fast examples of innovative broadband use. The set-top box allows connections and new services. Elisa’s continuing investments programmes to be recorded on a server, with video-on- have created the widest 3G coverage in Finland. According demand and HDTV available in the living room. to studies, Elisa’s network provides the best coverage and During the year, we made substantial developments in our quality in voice as well as data services. cable TV services. We converted the entire cable TV network Substantial growth in mobile broadband has also to digital, were the first to introduce freedom of choice strengthened Elisa’s competitive ability. We will continue to regarding the contents of pay TV packages, and screened build our network in a committed and systematic way. high-definition broadcasts of the Beijing Olympics. The Ministry of Transport and Communications has initi- To develop the competitive ability of our corporate ated a project to bring ultra-fast broadband access to every customers, we have introduced several services that improve Finn. Elisa supports the Ministry’s project and contributes mobile work and interaction. Many companies have already to achieving the objective in a way that is beneficial to the changed over to online meetings. A flexible service-based national economy. virtual conference solution does not require any investments in hardware or software. Enterprises can use interaction From strategy to action services to improve productivity and cost-efficiency through We have continued to systematically implement our strategy. eliminating travel time and saving on expenses. This also Our operations in Finland and Estonia have been steered by benefits the environment. the creation of an integrated Elisa and strengthening our In 2008 we also took important steps in our strategy’s market position through an extended service range. third development area: seeking growth in new services We have put substantial effort into making our opera- and new markets. Together with our customers, we have tions more efficient and productive. The results of the work developed online communities that utilise wireless local area are already visible and will open up great opportunities to networks, and introduced a home security service that uses improve productivity. In addition to economic benefits, our broadband, the Internet and mobile telephony simultane- customers have gained advantages through Elisa’s harmonised ously. We have also developed well-being services that procedures and new services. improve human resource productivity at enterprises.