Forthnet ended the first half of this year with 463,114 pay-TV subscribers, or 2.7% fewer than in the same period last year. Of these, 396,375 (-6.9%) were retail and 66,739 (+33.8%) wholesale.
The company, which operate in Greece and Cyprus, also served 279,666 homes that opted for triple-play/bundled services. This was 5.6% down on the same period last year, with the percentage of households of the total opting for such services falling by 0.6pp to 41.6%. Meanwhile, its broadband subscriber total as of June 30 stood at 555,500 (-2.9%).
H1 revenues for the company’s retail pay-TV services amounted to €45,703,000 (-11.3%), while its business pay-TV services made €12,146,000 (+30.8%). Its total revenues in H1 were €144,354,000 (-3.3%), while EBITDA rose to €17,933,000 (+11.4%).
Commenting on the results, CEO Panos Papadopoulos said: “In spite of the continuous pressure on consumers’ disposable income and the over-taxation burdening the markets we are operating in, we managed to improve our EBITDA for the first semester of the year by 11.4% through the implementation of our restructuring plan.
“Following our decision for the early termination of the collective management rights agreement with the Greek football Super League and the subsequent conclusion of bilateral agreements with nine clubs – including the most competitive and commercially attractive ones – we achieved significant cost savings for the next season 2018-2019. At the same time, we also secured the Italian football championship for our subscribers.
“Our strategic decision to distribute our premium sports and cinematic content through wholesale agreements to the final customers is starting to bear fruit.
“Finally, with the continuing upgrade of our OTT services (Nova GO, Nova On Demand) we are further enhancing the customer experience, while the recent launch of the Nova Energy services, continues our efforts to cover in an integrated manner the needs of Greek households”.
