Romania remains challenging for OTE despite an improved performance in its home market Greece.
The latest results published by the company show that in the fixed-line sector Telekom Romania ended the third quarter with 1,473,490 subscribers to its TV services, a modest 0.8% increase on the same period last year.
However, the number of broadband subscribers fell by 0.3% over the same period to 1,84,513, while the number of voice telephony lines slumped by 3% to 2,101,102.
Financially, total revenues in Romania in Q3 were down 1% year-on-year to €239.2 million, while combined adjusted EBITDA fell by 19.5% to €43 million.
In Greece, on the other hand, in the fixed-line sector the number of Cosmote TV customers at the end of Q3 stood at 517,155, up 8.2% on a year earlier, while the number of broadband customers rose by 6.9% to 1,716,188 over the same period.
For the group as a whole, which also includes operations in Albania, revenues in Q3 amounted to €991.2 million (-0.7%) ad adjusted EBITA €348.7 million (-2.3%). The adjusted profit to the owners of the company was €76.5 million (+2.4%).
Commenting on the results, OTE chairman and CEO Micahel Tsamaz said: “We achieved good operating performance in the third quarter. Reflecting our longstanding investments in high-speed data and TV content, together our retail Greek fixed and mobile operations posted positive revenues, impacted only by wholesale tariff cuts mandated by the regulator.
“Greece delivered a very strong EBITDA margin at the country level, thanks to a substantial increase in mobile service revenues and cost control across the board. Romanian fixed operations benefited from the continuing high demand for FMC service, but conditions remain challenging throughout our international operations. We have launched new initiatives to tighten costs and strengthen our profitability.”
Tsamaz added: “Our capital investments in the first nine months of the year are up substantially, a trend that we expect to continue in the fourth quarter, as we have sped up the pace of our FTTC, 4G & 4G+ investments to provide solutions that benefit customer experience and support the digital transformation of our markets. Our first wave of vectoring enabled cabinets will go live in late November, allowing us to offer a full menu of high-speed broadband options for all client segments. The increase in our capital expenditure will support our drive to boost our operational performance and profitability.”
