Belgian operator Proximus reported a drop of 2.2 percent in underlying domestic revenues in the first quarter, to EUR 1.096 billion. The company blamed the fall on lower handset sales and incoming mobile traffic, while noting this had little impact on the margin. The weak Q1 result prompted a change in the company's full-year outlook for "nearly stable" domestic revenues, with the forecast now excluding handset sales.
Excluding handsets, revenues in Belgium were down 0.9 percent year-on-year in Q1, led by continued erosion in mobile prepaid and fixed voice as well as lower wholesale revenues. The group's total revenues in Q1 fell 1.8 percent to EUR 1.415 billion, after a stable performance at the international arm BICS.
Underlying EBITDA was better than the full-year forecast of a flat result, with Q1 profit up 2.1 percent to EUR 463 million. The domestic operations posted 2.2 percent growth, and BICS grew by 1.3 percent.
Mobile service revenue lower
In addition to lower handset sales, Proximus blamed the weaker revenues on the growing adoption of communication apps, which is impacting inbound mobile revenues. Consumer mobile service revenue fell 2.4 percent to EUR 218 million, amid a still very competitive market, the operator said.
Only 1,000 postpaid consumer mobile customers were added in the quarter, and another 37,000 prepaid cards lost. Postpaid ARPU was down both year-on-year and on a quarterly basis to EUR 24.7, while data usage grew strongly, up 67 percent year-on-year to an average 2.7 GB per customer.
Consumer fixed revenue was stable at EUR 382 million, as price increases and growth in broadband and TV helped offset the loss of fixed lines. Proximus said marketing was at a low ebb, while it still added 8,000 broadband customers and 7,000 TV subscribers in the quarter.
On the fixed-mobile convergent offer, another 29,000 customers joined the Tuttimus and Bizz All-in plans in Q1, bringing the total base to 538,000. Average services per customer increased 2 percent to 2.78, and the household ARPU rose 1.2 percent to EUR 66.7. Total multi-play revenues were up 0.3 percent to EUR 590 million.
ICT revenue higher
In the Enterprise market, Proximus' revenues rose 1.6 percent to EUR 357 million. This was led by 6.7 percent growth in ICT services to EUR 132 million, which benefited from a number of acquisitions in the past year, such as Mediamobile.
