Telekom Austria has finally turned the corner in Bulgaria, posting EBITDA growth in the second quarter after years of decline.
Its revenues in the country in Q2 amounted to €103.3 million (+3.4% year-on-year), while EBITDA was €33.4 million (+8.6%).
In Bulgaria, Telekom Austria ended Q2 with 479,800 pay-TV subscribers, or 1.9% more than a year earlier. In Croatia, the growth was even more pronounced at 6.1%, with 209,000 subscribers as of the end of Q2.
In Belarus, where Telekom Austria is a newcomer to the pay-TV market, it had 158,000 subscribers as of the end of Q2, while in Slovenia the figure stood at 51,400 (+12.1%).
Meanwhile, in Telekom Austria’s home market it ended Q2 with 290,100 pay-TV subscribers, a 5.1% increase on a year earlier.
Telekom Austria saw group revenues increase by 4%(5.1% reported) in Q2, while EBITDA grew by 7.8% (9.1% reported).
Commenting on the results, Alejandro Plater, CEO Telekom Austria Group, said: “According to our strategy, we are continuing to focus on growth in our core and we have been organically strengthening our capabilities thanks to M&A activities. The solid performance in our markets and the positive results in the second quarter with increases in group revenues, EBITDA and net result show that we are on a good path.
“In April 2017 we have been implementing the powerful brand A1 in Slovenia which is an illustrative example of our strategic approach to utilize well-proven, successful solutions in more than one market. This measure is expected to have the potential to make a contribution to the Group’s efficiency and growth targets.
“A common focus in the Telekom Austria Group on cloud, IoT and digital services. Our subsidiary A1 digital launched its new OTT cloud marketplace by end of June with releasing new features and new cloud services to existing customers and users. Furthermore the cloud marketplace became available for the Bulgarian and Croatian markets. For the remaining year we will see further services and more markets to be added.
“We are not only supporting our customers in the digitalisation process, but we also need to digitalise ourselves and our internal processes. In this context we will put a strong internal focus on this topic in the remaining year with new groupwide initiatives.”
