Belgacom reported fourth-quarter revenues down 3.8 percent from a year earlier to EUR 1.582 billion. A gain of EUR 20 million from the sale of property was offset by a slowdown at its international unit BICS as well as continued pressure on mobile revenues. EBITDA fell 6.3 percent to EUR 398 million, including a loss of EUR 15 million on the sale of Scarlet Netherlands. Net profit came in at EUR 148 million.
Consumer revenues fell 4.2 percent year-on-year, with fixed up 1.9 percent to EUR 283 million thanks to growth in TV and broadband, while mobile revenue fell 9.4 percent to EUR 252 million. Belgacom added 17,000 broadband customers in the last quarter for a total 1.235 million at year-end, and TV customers rose by 20,000 to 1.479 million. Proximus added a net 8,000 mobile customers, with 52,000 new postpaid users offsetting a loss of 44,000 in prepaid. It finished the year at 3.568 million customers. Mobile data revenues were down 3.9 percent from a year earlier to EUR 96 million, hurt by lower SMS usage and price reductions.
Over the full year, Belgacom's revenues fell 2.2 percent and EBITDA was down 4.9 percent, hurt by regulatory price cuts and competitive pressures. The Belgian operator increased capex 29 percent to EUR 972 million in 2013, due mainly to EUR 120 million for its 800 MHz licence. Spending included expanding the 4G network to over 50 percent coverage by year-end and preparing the fixed network for the roll-out of vectoring this year. Operating cash flow was down 11 percent over the year to EUR 1.319 billion. Belgacom will pay a dividend of EUR 2.18 for 2013, but said it plans a more modest pay-put of EUR 1.50 per share over the next three years.
The operator expects the mobile market to stabilise in the course of this year, as the regulatory impact diminishes and new products win customers. Overall, core group revenues are expected to fall 1-2 percent in 2014. This excludes BICS, where more volatile market trends and forex effects could lead to a 10-15 percent fall in sales. Group EBITDA is forecast down 3-4 percent, including EUR 20 million in extra spending to strengthen its commercial offer, offset by an accounting change on capitalisation of customer connections. The outlook does not take into account the proposed sale of Telindus France to Vivendi. Capex this year is estimated at EUR 900 million, including further spending on 4G, vectoring and IT simplification.
