Greece’s Forthnet saw its pay-TV subscriber base shrink by 5.2% in 2017, ending the year on 416,759.
At the same time, revenues from its retail pay-TV business were down by 15.2% to €99,581,000. The number of homes receiving triple-play/bundled services fell by 3.9% to 289,886, and the company’s subscriber number as a whole fell by 4.1% to 979,120.
Forthnet’s revenues in 2017 were 8.5% lower, at €297,062,000, than in the previous year. Likewise, EBITDA was down, by 26.7% to €40,217,000.
Commenting on the results, CEO Panos Papadopoulos said: “The continuing recession coupled with the imposition the 10% tax on pay-TV and 5% on fixed line services as well as Super League’s, commercial underperformance had a negative impact not only on our financials but also on the sector as a whole. Under these circumstances the firm continues to implement a conservative commercial policy and take actions to further improve its cost base. For this reason, the company proceeded with the early termination of the Collective Management Rights Agreement with the Super League Clubs, while proceeded with the signing of bilateral agreements. Meanwhile, the company enhanced its strategic position in the pay-TV market through the commercial agreement of non-exclusive distribution of Novasports channels to Vodafone and Wind”.
