Adjusted EBITDA declined 11 percent to EUR 3.10 billion, and capex fell 7.7 percent to EUR 1.78 billlion. This resulted in a 15 percent fall in operating cash flow to EUR 1.32 billion. Debt was at 3.6 times EBITDA at year-end.
The company highlighted the investment in its fibre and mobile networks last year. It added over 800,000 homes passed to reach 6.4 million homes with access to 100 Mbps or higher. The 4G network coverage passed 50 percent at year-end, thanks in part to the network-sharing pact with Bouygues Telecom.
The DSL customer base declined by 1.4 percent over the year to 5.03 million customers, while fibre/hybrid cable subscribers increased by 4.5 percent to 1.547 million. Growth in fibre was helped by the launch of Numericable services by SFR at end-November, and the company said the growth continued in early 2015. Fixed-line ARPU dipped by 0.6 percent to EUR 34.1, which the operator blamed on aggressive discounts by SFR for FTTH.
Mobile ARPU was also lower, down 5.9 percent to EUR 22.5. SFR finished the year with 22.94 million customers, down 1.2 percent from 2013. This included a 14 percent contraction in the prepaid base and a 1.9 percent drop in postpaid to 13.00 million customers.
The new CEO Eric Denoyer has presented a 15-point plan aimed at reducing costs and improving profitability at the operator. These include simplifying consumer offers, branding and distribution; reorganising the business activities; unifying networks and optimising information systems; reviewing handset and other procurement; and reducing general and administrative expenses.
