Dutch cable operator Ziggo said it registered 45,000 new triple-play customers in the first quarter, reaching a total of 1.14 million subscriptions for television, internet and telephony. The number of digital TV connections grew by 111,000, boosted by migration from analogue to digital. In one year, the number of households with only analogue TV dropped by nearly one quarter. The number of internet connections increased in Q1 by 29,000, the company added 45,000 new fixed telephony customers, and digital TV subscribers rose by 24,000.
Sales for the quarter rose 6.5 percent to EUR 360.9 million from the year before, including EUR 340.5 million from the consumer market. Adjusted EBITDA lifted 5 percent to EUR 205.2 million, operating free cash flow advanced 39.6 percent to EUR 146 million, and the operating profit went 19.2 percent higher to EUR 86.4 million. The cost of goods sold rose 12.8 percent to EUR 71.6 million, bringing the gross margin down to 80.2 percent from 81.3. The cost of goods sold include shipping set-top boxes and copyright payments. The debt ratio (net debt to adjusted EBITDA) improved to 4.6 from 4.5.
Ziggo said it still sees significant growth potential in the coming years for both the consumer market and the SME market, which is experiencing a renewed interest. Since the marketing campaign for business connections in June 2010, Ziggo has signed on 8,700 business connections from the SME market. The total number of customers for Basic Office and Internet Plus is now at 13,800.
Ziggo's analogue offering will be reduced to 25 channels from 30, and the extra space will be used to broadcast SD and HD digital channels. Download speeds for existing customers are scheduled to increase in phases between April and September. The number of homes passed increased in the last year by 90,000 to 4.16 million. The number of RGUs (revenue-generating units) grew 4.8 percent to 6.774 million, from 6.461 million. That is an average 2.21 services per connection, good for an average turnover per customer of EUR 35.20 per month (+8.1%).
Ziggo provided only analogue TV to 1.148 million households at the end of Q1, down 24.4 percent from the year before. The number of customers with analogue and digital rose 18 percent to 1.915 million. On balance, the number of TV customers fell by 2.5 percent, to 3.063 million RGUs. A total of 921,000 households subscribed to pay-TV services, compared to 816,000 the year earlier. Ziggo had 1.578 million internet customers (+7.2%) and 1.212 million fixed telephony subscribers (17.3%) at the end of March. A total of 1.12 million households subscribed to a bundle, up 51.5 percent from 739,000 the year before.
