Orange remains on track to reach one million TV subscribers in Poland by the end of this year.
The fact that it failed to do so in the second quarter was probably in part due to the pandemic, the 996,000 total at the end of June being only 2,000 higher than three and indeed six months earlier. Nevertheless, within that there was continued growth in IPTV and a reduction in DTH take-up. The B2C convergent base also expanded and accounted for 85% of all TV connections in Q2.
Orange has shown particular resilience in Poland this year in the face of challenging circumstances. Its income in the second quarter was 2.5% up on the same period last year, while the half year figure was 1.7% higher than the corresponding one in 2019. While its net income in the first half was a troubling 70.2% down a year earlier, the Q2 figure, boosted by the easing of the lockdown from May onwards, was identical to that in 2019.
One of the main highlights of Orange’s performance in Poland, which the company deemed worthy enough to mention in its main set of results, was that the company had 44,000 net fibre customer additions in the second quarter.
Elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe, the first six months of 2020 have been something of a mixed bag for Orange Romania. While its financial performance was disappointing, with turnover in the second quarter being 10% lower than a year earlier, the number of customers receiving the cable and satellite service Orange Home TV was, at 528,000 at the end of June, “slightly higher than in Q2 2019”. At the same time, the number of fixed broadband customers rose by 15% to 365,900 over the same period.
Meanwhile in Slovakia, Orange gained TV subscribers, ending June with a total of 122,000, while its revenues fell. Its revenues were also lower in Moldova, falling by 5.8% year-on-year in the second quarter.
