For the financial year ended December 31, 2008, Starcomms plc has declared a net revenue of N34.50b, an increase of 80.3 per cent over N19.14billion recorded in 2007.

Also, during the year under review, Starcomms commenced operations in eleven cities to compliments twelve other states across the country including Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, among others.

Chairman of Starcomms, Chief Maan Lababidi, disclosed, yesterday, that as at December, 2008, the company recorded 2.085million active subscribers.

However, based on the expansion, according to Lababidi, the company's profit before tax declined from N451.8million in 2007 to a loss before tax of N8.42billion in 2008.

Lababidi, who spoke at the company's yealy general meeting in Abuja said "During 2008, the Starcomms Board of Director along with management took a conscious decision to emphasize long-term growth over short-term profitability targets having determined that it was not in the company's interest during a period of such high growth to sacrifice opportunities for the sake of meeting shorter term profit.

"Telecommunications companies invest heavily in building their networks and acquiring subscribers in the early years.

"Once they reach maturity, they reduce capital expenditure on rapid roll-out and consequently profitability increases dramatically. Starcomms is in its early growth stage and should be regarded as a growth stock at this stage in its development" said Lababidi.

He said 2009 has been designed to emphasise profitability after "the rapid growth experienced last year". Consequently, according to the Starcomms chairman, capital expenditure will be reduced from N29.94billion in 2008 to N11.47billion in 2009.

The company has also authorize its directors to allot up to five per cent of the ordinary shares of 50kobo each in the authorized share capital of the company for the purpose of establishing a management share incentive scheme for the benefits of qualified staff.

In 2008, he said Starcomms implemented a significant geographic expansion of its network and now covers a total of 22 cities in 16 states, adding that in addition, the company embarked on an "aggressive subscriber acquisition drive, resulting in its active subscriber base growing" from 0.737 million in December 2007 to 2.085 million in December 2008, an increase of 182.8 per cent.

On his part, the Managing Director and Chie Executive Officer of the company, Maher Qubain, said apart from the expansion, the unexpected devaluation of the Naira which caused Starcomms to post an unrealized foreign exchange loss of N3.641billion.

"Demand for telecoms services in Nigeria in 2008 continued at very high levels. However, the second half of the year was characterised by worsening economic conditions, a declining exchange rate and declining Average Revenue per User (ARPU) across the industry.

"Investors will appreciate that Starcomms is still in its growth phase and that once we mature, the reduced levels of investment required, coupled with economies of scale, will produce a significant increase in profitability. This is in line with the mode followed by all major telecommunications operators around the world.

"Starcomms now has reached an important level of critical mass, has a very strong brand and has one of the most advanced networks in Nigeria.

"Importantly, the firdt quarter results of 2009 prove that Starcomms is in good health, had cash, and cash equivalents of N8.157 billion at the end of March 2009. It has built a strong platform on which to build future profitability but also has demonstrated that it is able to respond rapidly to changing operating environments.

"For these reasons, we trust that our shareholders will maintain their faith in Starcomms and remain with us as we continue to build shareholder value for the future."