The majority of the stocks in our European telecoms index ended week 25 down (-0.2%), but not quite as much as the EuroStoxx 50 index (-1.8%). Several satellite stocks did well, including Inmarsat (+15%) and SES (+4.9%). Altice (+4.6%) was forced to abandon its Media Capital takeover deal, but was able to conclude the sale of stakes in its French and Portuguese tower businesses. The Greek challenger Forthnet (-15%) was the weakest stock, with Russia's MTS (-7.%) and Orange Belgium (-7.8%) also down considerably. Crnogorski Telekom (+11%) of Montenegro came out as the week's winner.
Iliad's entry in Italy, M&A around Sky and Telenet
Iliad's (-2.8%) entry in the Italian mobile market elicited more competitor responses. Vodafone Italia came with several new offers and came close to launching a new low-cost brand. TIM also launched a new low-cost subscription.
Sky (+5.8%) benefited from the bidding war that Walt Disney and Comcast are waging over 21st Century Fox. Disney also offered concessions for the planned takeover of Sky by Fox. In Belgium, Telenet (-1.1%) was reported to have launched an offer for Brutele, operating the Voo brand in Brussels, but Brutele's partner Nethys was trying to prevent this by offering a merger plan. And in the UK, CityFibre (0.1%) was delisted after its takeover by the Antin consortium closed.
Russia's MegaFon (+2.2%) reported Q1 results and launched a plan to sell off towers. Telenor (-2.3%) was hit with a fine for the way it handled national roaming for a newcomer in the Norwegian mobile market. And Deutsche Telekom (-2.0%) was the latest operator to plan a large-scale cost cutting program, at T-Systems, including several thousand job cuts.
YTD: Telenet and Iliad notable losers
Year-to-date the gap between Veon (-36%) and Intelsat (+418%), at the extremes of our basket, widened. Altice (+172%) is continuing its winning streak, and so is Sky (+40%). Notable losers include Belgian cable company Telenet and French challenger Iliad (both -31%).
Within the segment of incumbent operators, the year-to-date performances range from +30 percent for DNA and +20 percent for Elisa, both in Finland, to -23 percent for both Proximus and Turk Telekom.
