Telekom Austria's controlling shareholders have agreed a strong increase in the operator's dividend, after a modest improvement in its results in Q2. America Movil and the Austrian state holding company OBIB decided the company would pay EUR 0.20 per share as an annual dividend going forward, up from a previous target of EUR 0.05 per share.
The group's capital expenditure budget was maintained at EUR 750 million this year, a small increase from 2015 as it works to expand LTE coverage across its markets and the fibre roll-out in Austria. Telekom Austria said it still aims to achieve "modest" growth in total revenues this year, after a 2.3 percent increase in the first half, as its expansion in fixed markets helps offset the cuts to roaming prices and difficult economic conditions in some markets.
In the second quarter, the organic drop in revenues slowed to 0.2 percent on a pro forma basis, for a total EUR 1.031 billion, and underlying EBITDA was up 0.7 percent to EUR 329.3 million. On a reported basis, revenues rose 3.5 percent and EBITDA was up 3.9 percent, thanks to the acquisitions of fixed operators in eastern Europe and consolidation of One in Macedonia. Underlying revenue was up in Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia, almost offsetting declines in Belarus, Slovenia and Macedonia, and the impact of the roaming price cuts at the end of April was as expected, the company said, noting the impact was mainly in Austria.
Telekom Austria saw a slight decrease in its mobile subscriber base of 0.4 percent year-on-year on a pro forma basis. In general, CEE markets saw a shift from prepaid to postpaid offers. The number of revenue-generating units rose by 2.7 percent year-on-year, after adjusting for acquisitions.
Net profit rose to EUR 82.4 million in the second quarter from EUR 78.6 million a year ago, helped by lower interest charges.
