Swedish cable company Com Hem said revenue in the third quarter of 2013 fell to SEK 1.104 billion from SEK 1.133 billion in the same period of 2012. Adjusted EBITDA decreased slightly to SEK 571 million in the third quarter from SEK 589 million in the same quarter of 2012 as a result of lower revenue, partly offset by lower production and operating costs. The group recognised a net loss of SEK 141 million for the third quarter, up from a net loss of SEK 134 million in the same quarter last year.
On 30 September, Com Hem had 1.789 million homes connected, up by 12,000 since 30 June 2013 and up by 41,000 since 30 September 2012. The increase in the third quarter is mainly attributable to additional households connected via off-net communication operators. The total number of RGUs on 30 September 2013 was 1.484 million, up from 1.483 million on 30 June this year but down from 1.512 on 30 September 2012.
The number of unique subscribers had risen to 829,000 on 30 September 2013 from 822,000 on 30 June but had fallen slightly from 831,000 on 30 September 2012. Blended ARPU per unique subscriber fell by SEK 12 to SEK 348 year on year, with a fall in ARPU from digital TV and landline phones.
Revenue from the digital TV and fixed line telephony services decreased, though this was partly offset by increased revenue from high-speed broadband services, among other things. Revenue from property owner services remained unchanged.
Production costs in the third quarter 2013 was SEK 6 million lower than the third quarter of 2012, mainly because of lower content costs, but was partly offset by higher production costs related to communication operator costs at iTUX and service and support agreements for the new TiVo platform. Operating costs decreased by SEK 11 million in the third quarter of 2013 from the corresponding quarter of 2012, mainly because of lower sales costs and general cost savings.
Capital expenditure increased by SEK 100 million, or 59.8 percent, from SEK 167 million in the third quarter 2012 to SEK 267 million this time, mostly related to the TiVo launch and timing differences for modem purchases compared with the same quarter of 2012. Operating free cash flow decreased by SEK 142 million or 34.5 percent from SEK 410 million last time to SEK 268 million in the third quarter 2013, again mostly because of the TiVo launch
