The Dutch telco KPN ended the second quarter 2,293,000 subscribers to its TV services.
This was down from 2,308,000 three months earlier and 2,353,000 in the corresponding period in 2019. The majority of these opted for IPTV (2,159,000, down from 2,161,000 and 2,177,000 three and 12 months earlier respectively). KPN lost most TV subscribers with its Digitenne DTT service: down 13,000, the remaining 2,000 departing TV subscribers left the IPTV platform.
KPN also saw an overall reduction in its fixed RGU total, which fell from 7,379,000 to 7,018,000 in the year to June 30. KPN had adjusted revenues of €1,292 million in Q2, down 4.9% on a year earlier. Its adjusted EBITDA after leases was €585 million (-1.5%) and net profit €233 million (+5.4%).
In his comments on the results, KON CEO Joost Farwerck said: “The second quarter was also the first in which we saw the full effect of Covid-19 on the Dutch economy. While impacting performance in some areas, this dynamic also underlined the importance of KPN’s continuous efforts to improve and enhance the quality of the Netherlands’ digital infrastructure through large scale investments. We believe that digitalization can be a catalyst for the country’s economic recovery that simultaneously helps to address the ecological and social challenges of the post-Covid world. We are proud of our employees who delivered and were committed to customer service in these challenging times. Over the first half year KPN, with its networks and services, has proven to be resilient.
“We are accelerating the roll out of fibre, which continues to drive value for KPN. We added 76k homes passed in the quarter and, we have a number of commercial proof points validating our roll-out strategy. For example, compared to copper we see that fiber ARPU is 9% higher, Valued Added Services revenues per user are 40-50% higher for fiber customers and the fiber service revenues grew by 6% in the second quarter of the year. We are also proud that our fiber network is recognized as the best fixed network in the Netherlands according to the Dutch Consumers’ Association, and we are securing long-term construction capacity to safeguard our roll out plans”.
