Telekom Romania’s TV subscriber base grew by 0.4% in the year to March 31, reaching a total of 1,463,801.
However, it also noted losses in its broadband and telephony subscriber numbers over the same period. Moreover, its total revenues fell by 1.7% to €226.5 million in Q1 and within those TV revenues were down by 5%.
Meanwhile, Greece’s OTE, Telekom Romania’s parent company, saw its TV subscriber base grow by 4.5% to 527,716 in the year to March 31. However, its revenues in Q1 were, at €685.5 million, 0.7% lower than a year earlier.
OTE Group’s total revenues amounted to €921.3 million (-0.8%) and its adjusted EBITDA was €315.1 million (+3.5%).
Commenting on then results, Michael Tsamaz, OTE’s chairman & CEO, said: “We started 2018 with a solid performance. Subscriber take-up for our high-speed fibre broadband service is driving retail revenue growth in Greece, as we further upgrade our network to offer more customers, speeds of up to 200 Mbps. We are also reaping the benefits of our superior mobile service, with data growth responding to our initiatives and revenues recovering. Our digitalisation initiatives are enhancing customer experience and driving cost savings. These factors support our EBITDA performance. In Romania, our new mobile offers launched at year end, complementing our FMC proposition, are gaining traction and supporting our strategy. And, in Albania, profitability improved sharply, as the market shows signs of recovery following the exit of the fourth operator.”
He added: “All in all, we delivered positive results and are confident that we will continue to do so for the remainder of the year. After the end of the quarter, we initiated our share buyback program, consistent with the shareholder remuneration policy announced in January, and our cash flow is on track to deliver our targeted performance and support our dividend this year.”