During the first nine months of 2009 net interest expenses increased from EUR 153.1 million to EUR 169.5 million compared to the same period of the previous year due to the accretion of the restructuring provision, which led to additional non-cash interest expenses in the amount of EUR 26.9 million.
Foreign exchange differences in the financial result turned from a gain of EUR 15.4 million in the first nine months of 2008 to a loss of EUR 14.2 million in the first nine months of 2009 mainly due to the devaluation of the Belarusian Ruble and the Dinar in the Republic of Serbia since January 2009.
The impairments relating to operations in Belarus and in the Republic of Serbia led to a tax benefit and consequently to an income tax expense of EUR 5.3 million in the first nine months of 2009 compared to EUR 117.7 million in the same period of 2008. The effective tax rate in the first nine months of 2009 was 14.5% compared to 22.3% in the first nine months of 2008.
Net income impacted by impairments and related tax benefit
Net income in the first nine months of 2009 amounted to EUR 31.3 million compared to a net income of EUR 388.9 million in the first nine months of 2008 primarily due to the impairments of the goodwill in Belarus and the licence in the Republic of Serbia which partly offset the related tax benefit from these impairments.
Basic and diluted earnings per share amounted to EUR 0.07 in the first nine months of 2009 compared to EUR 0.88 in the same period of 2008. Excluding the impairments and the related tax benefit basic and diluted earnings per share in the first nine months of 2009 was EUR 0.66.