Telekom Austria saw steady growth in its TV businesses in the third quarter despite a sharp fall in profits.
The group’s revenues amounted to €1,036 million, down by 5.3% on the corresponding period in 2012, while its comparable EBITDA fell by 12.8% to €357.9 million.
Net revenue meanwhile slumped by 48.3% to €51.3 million.
Revenues were particularly hard hit in Austria in Q3, down by 39.4% year-on-year, with Croatia (-16.2%) and Bulgaria (-14%) the next most badly affected markets.
In Austria, the company ended the third quarter with 229,800 subscribers to A1 TV, or 2,000 more than three months earlier.
In Bulgaria, on the other hand, it had 75,100 TV subscribers, or 2,100 more than three months earlier, while in Croatia it added 8,300 in the quarter to end September with 158,100 TV customers.
Summarising its performance in the first nine months of this year, Telekom Austria says: “the Austrian operations were affected by continued price pressure and negative regulatory effects. In Bulgaria the effects of further termination rate cuts combined with a weak macroeconomic environment and ongoing price pressure continue to weigh on revenues.
“Croatia was also heavily impacted by regulatory burdens attributable to mobile termination rate cuts and roaming rate adjustments following the EU accession in July 2013. Strong operational performance in Belarus drove revenue growth, despite a negative effect from foreign exchange translation. A higher number of subscribers and a rise in usage resulted in revenue growth in the Additional markets segment.”
