United Group is undoubtedly a star performer in South-East Europe’s media and telecoms industry.
Majority owned by BC Partners since 2019, it has recently undergone rapid expansion and is today a leading provider of multiplay services across the region.
Results released by the group for the first nine months of this year are a good indication of its progress and offer insights as to how it may develop in the future.
Firstly, they show that it made a net profit of €454.6 million during the period compared to a loss of €148.9 million in Q1-Q3 2022. This was in large part down to the sale of its tower business in Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia to TAWAL, a subsidiary of MENA-based stc Group.
Secondly, they highlight the importance of Bulgaria in its operations and how its standing will be boosted still further if the group manages to close the controversial acquisition of Bulsatcom. In the first nine months of this year, Vivacom Bulgaria, which includes its cable, mobile and DTH services in the country, was already the second best performing in revenue terms. Coming in at €473.6 million, or 23% of the total, it was only behind Nova Greece (€610.2 million, 30%) and over double that of third placed Telemach Slovenia (€216.5 million, 11%).
Thirdly, they give subscriber figures that pinpoint where growth is strongest and – in some instances – much less so. For instance, its cable pay-TV and broadband internet RGU totals were up 7% and 10% respectively in the first nine months of this year compared to 2022. On the other hand, DTH pay-TV and OTT totals were down 1% and up 1% respectively. Overall, the group gained 391,000 RGUs over the year, with the total increasing by 3% to 15,959,000.
Last but not least, the results show that United Group remains very much focussed on acquisitions. Indeed, it says it “continually monitors M&A opportunities and is currently in the early stages of evaluating multiple potential opportunities”.
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