Covid-19 impacted directly on the performance of Hrvatski Telekom (HT) in the first half of this year.
In its latest set of results, the Croatian incumbent says that its net revenues were, at HRK3,494 million (€464 million), HRK201 million, or 5.4%, lower than in the same period last year. At the same time, EBITDA (HRK1,293 million) was down by HRK110 million (7.8%) and net profit (HRK313 million) by HRK125 million (28.5%).
In its home market HT ended H1 with 492,000 TV customers, or 0.2% more than a year earlier. TV ARPU was down 1.6% to HRK84. In Montenegro, its subsidiary Crnogorski Telekom saw its TV subscriber total increase by 6.2% to 72,000 in the year to June 30.
HT notes that a strong focus has been placed this year on the implementation of the next generation fixed access network (NGA). As of the end of H1, an additional 19,608 households were covered by FTTH technology, bringing the total number to 299,000.
Commenting on the results, Kostas Nebis, CEO of HT, said: “The first six months of 2020 were strongly impacted by Covid-19 and by it initiated lockdown, with effects seen across business, economy and society. There is not a single industry that has not been affected by such developments, including the Telecoms sector. However, the services and connectivity we provide to the Croatian society and economy are now more important than ever before, and I am proud that we have, especially during the past six months demonstrated our market, technology and network leadership, as well as our strong commitment to supporting the country when it mattered the most, and we will continue to do so.
“With Croatia needing to step up its digitalisation I see our role in helping businesses and public sector transform and make a digital leap with a combination of telco and standardized and customized ICT solutions, in providing even more value to our customers by accelerating the simplification on all touchpoints, and in keeping the pace of our network investment plan which is a key lever for the society’s digitization and return to economic growth. Very few industries and even fewer companies can play this role that is essential for the future of Croatia.
“This is why, even under the challenging outlook for the remainder of 2020, Hrvatski Telekom as the largest private investor in the digitalisation of Croatia, will continue connecting the Croatian society with the opportunities of digitisation, and I am confident we will deliver on our vision of sustainable and profitable growth”.
