Israel’s Bezeq warns of possible write down in mobile phone unit

JERUSALEM: Bezeq Israel Telecom said on Monday it may have to write down the value of mobile unit Pelephone by 800 million shekels to 1.1 billion shekels ($227-$312 million).

Bezeq, Israel’s largest telecoms group, said the figure was an initial internal assessment and that a valuation will be performed by an external appraiser. As a result, the amount of the impairment in the company’s books may be different, it said.

Amid fierce competition, Pelephone’s net profit slid 78% to 2 million shekels in the first quarter, with its subscriber base falling to 2.22 million from 2.55 million at the end of 2018.