French cable operator Numericable reported revenue for 2013 up 0.9 percent to EUR 1.31 billion. Adjusted EBITDA was down 0.5 percent to EUR 616 million, EBIT fell 17.6 percent to EUR 256 million, and net profit declined 17.6 percent to EUR 256 million in 2013. Capex rose by 12 percent to EUR 320 million, allowing the company to pass another 400,000 homes with fibre, taking the total to almost 5.2 million households. The financial performance was in line with the company's guidance.
Company CEO Eric Denoyer cited the success of the recent IPO of Numericable Group (including business operator Completel) and Numericable’s deployment of another 180,000 La Box Fibre lines in 2013, helping consumer revenue increase by 4.7 percent to EUR 865 million. The company had over 300,000 La Box Fibre customers at the end of last year, 2.5 times more than a year earlier. Business revenues fell 4.1 percent in 2013 to EUR 310 million, hurt by termination rate cuts.
The total customer base hosted on Numericable’s network increased by 5 percent in 2013 to reach 1.71 million (multiplay, monoplay TV and white label). ARPU rose by 2.7 percent to EUR 41.90 a month in the fourth quarter. Numericable multi-play customers grew 7 percent to 1.04 million.
As the French government prepares its "Plan France Tres Haut Debit", Numericable confirmed its target of 8.5 million fibre homes passed by the end of 2016. Numericable said it's preparing to accelerate its fibre roll-out this year, with a target of upgrading 700,000 to 800,000 households to fibre by 31 December.
Numericable finished the year with EUR 2.57 billion in net debt, equal to 4.08 times annual EBITDA. Following its IPO and refinancing in Q4, the company expects to save around EUR 40 million on financing costs this year, assuming stable Euribor rates. No major debt repayments are due before 2017.
The company reiterated its medium-term targets issued at the IPO, to reduce net debt to 3.5-4.0x EBITDA, increase the EBITDA margin to close to 50 percent and accelerate revenue growth to 2-5 percent per year. The latter will be driven by the continued network upgrade and promotion of LaBox services to attract more customers and grow ARPU.
