PARIS: Altice NV said its earnings improved in the third quarter, helped by gains in the U.S. and signs of improvement at its French carrier SFR Group SA.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 8.3% to 2.33 billion euros ($2.6 billion) as sales were flat at EUR5.89 billion, Patrick Drahi’s holding company said Thursday. Analysts projected adjusted Ebitda of EUR2.33 billion on sales of EUR5.81 billion for the three months ended Sept. 30.
“Our focus on execution is paying off,” Altice Chief Executive Michel Combes said. “We are delivering a substantially better revenue and financial performance across all our major markets including France, the U.S. and Portugal.”
Adjusted Ebitda at Cablevision, now called Optimum, rose 33% to EUR517 million, while advancing 20% to EUR268 million at Suddenlink. Altice USA now accounts for more than one third of Altice’s total revenue.
Asked about potential acquisitions, Altice USA Chief Executive Dexter Goei said that the company’s focus this year is on integrating and improving returns at its existing business. He added that the company always explores options to create value for shareholders, including an initial public offering of its U.S. business, but that “today there are no concrete plans to do anything.”
In France, adjusted Ebitda at SFR rose 0.6% to EUR1.04 billion in the quarter. Mr. Combes said that he expects revenue and profitability to improve further in the upcoming quarters. SFR last month abandoned a plan to buy out minority shareholders in SFR after France’s market regulator opposed the deal.
