The Swisscom group said its outlook for the full year remains unchanged as its operating results were within expectations in the first half of 2019. Second quarter group net revenue fell by 4 percent to CHF 2.80 billion from CHF 2.92 billion a year earlier but EBITDA rose to CHF 1.12 billion from CHF 1.09 billion a year earlier.
Swiss revenue fell 4.5 percent to CHF 2.09 billion from CHF 2.19 billion a year earlier amid continuing price pressure and the decline in the number of fixed telephony connections. Swiss telecom service revenue declined by 5.2 percent to CHF 1.49 billion from CHF 1.57 billion a year earlier. Solution business revenue was little changed at CHF 248 million (CHF 249 million) as price pressure and lower volumes in the banking sector were offset by higher revenue from merchandise. Wholesale revenue increased by 11.7 percent to CHF 162 million.
Swiss EBITDA decreased by 2.6 percent to CHF 909 million from CHF 933 million in Q2 2018. On 30 June, it had 11.60 million Swiss RGUs, down from 11.67 million on 31 March. The number of inOne customers reached 2.57 million, with the latest inOne mobile offering alone registering around 570,000 customers in its first five months since launch.
The number of Swiss fixed phone lines dropped to 1.68 million from 1.74 million the previous quarter, retail broadband lines dipped to 2.02 million from 2.03 million, TV lines rose to 1.53 million from 1.52 million, and mobile lines shrank to 6.37 million from 6.38 million in Q1.
Fastweb’s revenue dipped to CHF 602 million from CHF 606 million. In local currency, net revenue decreased to EUR 535 million from EUR 519 million. Residential revenue climbed to EUR 273 million from EUR 264 million and enterprise revenue to EUR 214 million from EUR 188 million but wholesale revenue dropped to EUR 45 million to EUR 66 million. Fastweb’s broadband access lines rose to 2.60 million from 2.50 million a year earlier and its mobile lines climbed to 1.63 million from 1.28 million the year before.
EBITDA at Fastweb grew by 3.5 percent to CHF 206 million from CHF 199 million the year before.
Revenue at other operating segments grew by 3.9 percent to CHF 237 million from CHF 228 million.
Swisscom declared capital expenditure of CHF 779 million in the second quarter, up from CHF 568 million a year earlier. Swiss capex rose to CHF 601 million from CHF 400 million. It paid CHF 196 million for mobile radio frequencies allocated in April 2019 and it increased investments in expansion of broadband networks. Fastweb’s capex grew to CHF 174 million from CHF 162 million.
Operating free cash flow proxy dropped to CHF 273 million from CHF 517 million a year earlier. Net debt climbed to CHF 9.54 million from CHF 8.15 million.
