French operator Bouygues Telecom continued to report steady growth in revenues and EBITDA on a quarterly basis. Its full-year contribution to Bouygues group's operating profit jumped to EUR 753 million, from EUR 461 million in 2017, boosted by two significant exceptional items. The larger of the two amounted to EUR 250 million and related to the capital gain on the sale of mobile sites and the FTTH network deal signed with Cityfast.
Coinciding with its financial results, the operator announced that it has agreed to buy French B2B operator Nerim, confirming earlier press reports. The acquisition, in partnership with Dzeta Partners, follows its recent deal with B2B VoIP specialist Keyyo, currently under completion. Nerim will remain a separate business once the transaction is closed during the first quarter, said the company.
Bouygues Telecom’s service revenues grew to EUR 1.08 billion in the three months to December, up 4 percent year-on-year (+5.0% in Q3), while EBITDA jumped 17 percent to EUR 337 million (+20% in Q3). Full-year free cash flow rose to EUR 188 million, from EUR 57 million in 2017, and is expected to reach EUR 300 million in 2019, in line with previous guidance. Gross capital expenditure increased to EUR 1.24 billion across 2018, up 13 percent year-on-year.
Bouygues' postpaid customers increased by 121,000 since September (+199,000 in Q3) for a total of 10.89 million, excluding M2M connections. The overall mobile base reached 16.35 million, of which 4.94 million in the M2M segment. Blended mobile ARPU declined to EUR 19.20, from EUR 19.90 in the previous quarter and EUR 19.40 in the year-earlier period.
Looking at the fixed business, the broadband base increased by 73,000 since September (+71,000 in Q3), bringing the total to 3.68 million. FTTH connections reached 569,000, as quarterly net additions improved to 102,000 (+76,000 in Q3). Broadband ARPU stood at EUR 25.90, up marginally sequentially (EUR 25.50) but EUR 1.30 lower than in the year-earlier period (EUR 27.20).
