Telekom Austria’s performance in Central and Eastern Europe in Q1 this year was driven by M&A, negative FX effects and fierce competition.
In its latest set of results, the company says that it ended the quarter with 466,600 pay-TV subscribers in Bulgaria, up from 97,300 a year earlier. However, Broadband TV News notes that this sharp rise would have been down to the acquisition of Blizoo, the country’s leading cable operator.
Meanwhile in Croatia, its pay-TV subscriber total increased by 13.2% over the same period to 194,300. In Macedonia, it rose by 80.7% to 126,300.
In its home market, the telco saw its pay-TV subscriber total increase by 7% to 273,600.
Telekom Austria’s total revenues in Q1 amounted to €1,009.4 million, up 1.2% on a year earlier, while its EBITDA was €334.4 million (-0.3%). Its net profit was, at €81 million, 12.7% down on Q1 2015.
Commenting on the results, Alejandro Plater, CEO Telekom Austria Group, said: “After a strong annual result in 2015, the Telekom Austria Group continued on a growth path. The first quarter of 2016 showed positive results both topline and in EBITDA. According to our strategy we have been extending our core business as well as the portfolio, and closed valuable targeted M&A deals. Despite working on our cost base, we have been investing more than originally planned to prepare for the increasing challenges on the telecoms market in the future”.
