Wind Tre 9-mth revenues down 11% on Iliad effect

Italian operator Wind Tre posted total revenues of EUR 4.10 billion in the first nine months of 2018, down 11 percent year on year, according to a statement from owner CK Hutchison. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBTIDA) fell nearly 7 percent to EUR 1.38 billion, while the company’s pre-tax losses for the January to September period came in at EUR 351 million. In July, Wind Tre CEO Jeffrey Hedberg had described the year to date as a “challenging” period due to “extremely competitive market conditions” intensified by the entry of France’s Iliad in May following the completion of Wind’s merger with 3 Italia in January 2017. Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison subsequently acquired the 50 percent stake in Wind Tre it did not already own for EUR 2.45 billion.

Vodafone Italia and TIM (Telecom Italia) reported service revenues down 6.3 percent and 4.1 percent in the September quarter but Wind Tre appears to have been hit hardest by Iliad’s newly-launched Italian venture, which had attracted 2.23 million customers by the end of Q3 and set off a major price war. Wind Tre’s results statement was issued to investors alone but local website Universo Free revealed that the operator’s revenues fell 14.6 percent in the July to September period, compared to falls of 10 percent and 8 percent in the previous two quarters.

In the mobile segment, Wind Tre’s revenues declined by 10.7 percent year on year due above all to 900,000 customer losses in the third quarter alone, said the report, adding that the company ended up with 27.7 million customers at the end of September compared to over 30 million a year earlier. Wind Tre also had EUR 9.5 billion of debt, not including the EUR 517 million shelled out last month for 5G-ready spectrum in the 3.7 GHz and 26 GHz bands.