Greek operator OTE reported third-quarter revenues down 10.2 percent to EUR 1.18 billion, hurt by the weak economy in Greece and termination rate cuts across its operations. EBITDA was down 7.4 percent from a year earlier to EUR 430.1 million, while the margin improved 1.1 percent points to 36.5 percent, helped by a 10.9 percent reduction in operating costs. Net profit improved 4.4 percent to EUR 109 million.
Capex over the first nine months of the year was down 31 percent to EUR 326 million, and free cash flow rose 51 percent over the same period to EUR 506 million. OTE's net debt was down 27 percent from a year earlier and fell by EUR 212 million during the quarter, to EUR 3.1 billion. The company said it had received commitments for around half a billion euros in its new syndicated loan, which it expects to complete by Q1 2013.
Going forward, OTE said it plans another voluntary redundancy programme in Greece to further lower costs and expects operational trends to improve when it launches VDSL services.
In Greece, quarterly fixed-line revenues fell 12.3 percent to EUR 424 million, and mobile unit Cosmote posted a drop of 11.7 percent to EUR 394 million, hurt by sharp cuts to termination rates.
Recent price cuts helped the retail broadband base grow by 34,100 customers in the three months, for a total 1.146 million, while the loss of fixed lines slowed to 54,900, to 3.189 million. TV customers grew by over 20,000 in the quarter and reached 105,000 in early November, OTE said.
Cosmote's customer base was down 1.2 percent from a year earlier to 7.8 million, due mainly to disconnecting customers with more than one prepaid card, the company said. Minutes of use fell 3.5 percent to an average 292.1 per customer, and ARPU declined 4.3 percent to EUR 15.0.
