Cabovisão’s Canadian owner Cogeco has been forced to make a C$399.6 million (€247.05m) writedown as competitive pressures continued to take their toll on the Portuguese cablenet.
In a statement, Cogeco said that its subscriber losses were “significantly more important” than anticipated and warned that it may come under further pressure with the launch of Portugal’s DTT services later this year.
Cabovisao has lost 35,000 RGUs in the last six months ending February with 690,000. Basic cable fell by 20,000 subs to stand at 276,192.
On the positive side investment in digital TV helped add 11,806 subscribers to reach 36,258 and pay-TV 12,995 to make it to 70,710.