German operator Tele Columbus cut its profit outlook for 2018 based on results for the first half of 2018, lowering its annual EBITDA expectations to at least EUR 235 million from an earlier range of EUR 280-290 million. The company said it expects revenues for 2018 will be on par with last year’s revenues of EUR 496.9 million, after earlier forecasting low to mid single-digit growth. Capex for 2018 will amount to a maximum of EUR 150 million. The number of households served by Tele Columbus should remain at a “stable basis”, it said.
The company said these revised forecasts are based on revenues generated up to EUR 240 million and an EBITDA of EUR 118 million during the first half of 2018. The revised EBITDA target for 2018 includes increased marketing expenditures during the second half of 2018 and “significantly lower” one-off costs in H2 compared to the same period last year.Tele Columbus said it expects to release financial figures for the first half of the year and a mid-term outlook through early 2019 by 31 August at the latest, following the earlier delay in the release of its Q2 earnings report.
The cable operator said it expects to see a higher cost basis and a delayed onset of revenue growth this year due to the finalization of its integration projects with Pepcom and the launch of new marketing activities in October. Tele Columbus said it successfully completed its migration of Pepcom customer data in late June while the integration of its group-wide accounting platform on a joint ERP system is slated to be completed by early September.
