A strong financial performance and a reduced balance sheet have led Com Hem to launch an SEK 500m share redemption programme.
The proposal will be put to shareholders at an EGM on March 10.
A buy-back programme of up to SEK 1,000m will take the form of a buy-back mandate for the Board during the time until the next annual general meeting. There will also be a dividend of 1 SEK per share for 2015 to be decided by the AGM.
”These proposals prove our commitment to deliver attractive returns to our shareholders while maintaining sufficient financial flexibility to support the company’s growth ambitions. We are confident Com Hem will continue to generate strong cash flows going forward on the back of further operational improvement, reduced interest costs and healthy growth”, said Andrew Barron, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Com Hem.
The announcement comes as the Swedish cablenet reported a strong fourth quarter with revenue totalling SEK 1,229m, an increase of 10.4% over 2013.
“Significant returns were delivered on our broadband investment, with another quarter of strong volume growth and continued shifts to higher speed tiers.
Similarly, accelerated growth in digital television was driven by our leading TiVo offering and TiVo penetration increased from 22% to 27%,” said Anders Nilsson, CEO, Com Hem.
The unique consumer subscriber base grew by 16,000 to a total of 876,000. Churn improvement continued, declining from 14.8% to 14.2%. There was also a continued strong volume growth in broadband, increasing by 17,000 to 612,000 RGUs. Growth in digital television continued, increasing by 10,000 to 618,000 RGUs.
The number of TiVo customers grew by over 32,000 to 164,000 customers (27% penetration).
