Hungary Phone Tax Burden May Affect Magyar Telekom Dividend

Magyar Telekom Nyrt., the Hungarian unit of Deutsche Telekom AG, said Hungary replacing its “crisis tax” with a levy on phone calls may have an impact on its dividend as it affects the widest part of its customer base.

The new phone tax, passed by the Hungarian government yesterday, has a monthly cap that will affect lower earners, the biggest part of the customers, Chief Executive Officer Christopher Mattheisen said today. The tax will be payable from July and is levied on phone calls per minute, with a maximum monthly charge of 700 forint per subscription for individual customers and 2,500 forint per subscription for companies.