LONDON: Telekom Romania reported lower fixed and mobile revenues in Q1, down by 7.8 percent and 1.9 percent year-on-year respectively. Fixed unit Telekom Romania Communications’ revenues dropped to EUR 137.1 million, on sharply lower voice revenues and timing of ICT projects implementation. Mobile Communications’ service revenues dropped to EUR 77.1 million, while total revenue increased by 9.5 percent year-on-year to EUR 113.0 million thanks to stronger equipment sales.
Compared to Q1 2015, fixed voice revenues were 16 percent down, while broadband revenues dropped 4 percent and TV revenues were 1 percent lower. Pro Forma EBITDA decreased by 37.5 percent to EUR 20.5 million.
Year-on-year, the number of FMC subscribers nearly tripled to 270,166, and the TV subscriber base was up 2.5 percent to 1.449 million, while broadband subscriptions shrank 1.8 percent to 1.196 million. The number of fixed lines increased 1.0 percent to 2.182 million.
Total Romanian fixed-line operating expenses, excluding depreciation, amortisation, charges related to voluntary retirement programmes and restructuring, declined by EUR 1.3 million in Q1 compared to a year earlier. The company said it maintained strict control of indirect costs and implemented several transformation projects. Other income declined by 29 percent in Q1, mainly due to lower income from asset disposals.
Telekom Romania’s mobile customer base decreased 4 percent annually to 5.7 million, of which 29 percent were postpaid. Compared to the end of 2015, the operator lost 258,000 prepaid users and gained 203,000 in the postpaid segment. The number of business customers grew by 5.5 percent compared to Q1 2015, reflecting the company’s targeted offers for professional users and synergies created following its rebranding to the Telekom name. Blended ARPU increased by 2.7 percent compared to Q1 2015, due to higher incoming ARPU (traffic driven). Blended AMOU increased by 4.6 percent.
Mobile operating expenses, excluding depreciation, amortisation, impairments and charges related to voluntary retirement programmes and restructuring, were 18 percent higher, reflecting mainly the higher cost of goods sold as a result of increased revenues from handsets and higher interconnection costs due to traffic patterns. Deterioration of the prepaid margin due to market competitiveness along with costs associated with the expansion of the company’s business customer base led to a decline in pro forma EBITDA of 18.3 percent to EUR 18.3 million.
