Altice Europe said it's making progress on its turnaround plans, but reported a further fall in results for the second quarter. Revenues dropped 4.8 percent to EUR 3.48 billion, and adjusted EBITDA was down 10.3 percent to EUR 1.32 billion. The margin fell to 37.8 percent from 40.1 percent a year ago.
On a constant currency basis, revenue declined 2.3 percent and adjusted EBITDA was down 5.5 percent, excluding the VAT benefit in France. The consumer mobile customer base dropped to 25.67 million at the end of June from 25.69 million a year ago, and fixed consumer customers were down to 9.00 million from 9.04 million. On a quarterly basis, both France and Portugal added new customers.
The company reduced capital expenditure to EUR 773 million from EUR 861 million a year ago, while operating cash flow was still down to EUR 542 million from EUR 606 million. Net debt totaled EUR 31.7 billion or 5.8x EBITDA at the end of Q2, with liquidity of EUR 2.8 billion.
Altice said it still expects full-year operating free cash flow of EUR 2.3-2.5 billion, excluding the Altice TV segment. However, its main business Altice France will be at the low end of its guidance of EUR 1.5-1.6 billion in operating cash flow, as "very strong commercial momentum" leads to higher acquisition costs and client capex.
