Spanish mobile operator Yoigo reported a significant year-on-year decline in its net sales in local currency of 19.3 percent to the equivalent of SEK 1.81 billion in the second quarter of 2014, a result that forced parent company TeliaSonera to cut its full-year revenue outlook. The fall was mainly due to reduced handset sales, which almost halved to SEK 385 million compared to the second quarter of 2013, with lower interconnect revenues and billed ARPU erosion also playing a part. Commenting on the results, TeliaSonera CEO Johan Dennelind said Yoigo remained “sub-scale” with a market share of around 7 percent, adding that “we are reviewing our future presence in the Spanish market”. Like other mobile-only operators, Yoigo has struggled to compete in an economic climate in which deeply discounted all-inclusive bundles of fixed and mobile phone, television and broadband services continue to dominate.
However, Yoigo’s EBITDA margin improved up to 11.0 percent in the second quarter, compared to 8.2 percent in the same quarter of 2013, explained by lower subsidies and subscriber acquisition costs, while EBITDA for the quarter inched up to SEK 198 million, compared to SEK 184 million in the April-June quarter of last year.
Yoigo's overall customer base of 4.02 million was more or less unchanged compared to the previous quarter but increased by 5.4 percent year on year. In fact, churn declined to 24 percent, the lowest level since the end of 2012. ARPU, on the other hand, continued to fall, coming in at EUR 12.8 per month, versus EUR 13.3 in the previous quarter and EUR 15.3 a year earlier.
On a more positive note, Yoigo led the way with the launch of a new portfolio of data-focused subscriptions at the beginning of June, which have now been replicated by other operators.
