Ziggo hit by competition and lower marketing activity

Dutch cable operator Ziggo attracted 20,000 new subscribers to its All-in-1 bundle in the third quarter, taking total penetration to 48.6% of its customers base. However CEO Bernard Dijkhuizen noted that the company had seen increasing competition, resulting in lower growth for the bundled offering, which had also been hit by reduced marketing activity.

Dijkhuizen said Ziggo was nevertheless “on track to continue to increase our market share and grow our revenue” and said that core revenues should grow in line with expectations for the full year. EBITDA should also be in line with expectations, he said.

Ziggo saw continued growth in digital pay TV driven by an increase in the number of premium packages per subscriber and strong year-on-year growth in VOD transactions by over 140%.

Internet subscribers were up 16,000 in third quarter, driven by the sale of All-in-1 bundles and business bundles. Ziggo’s telephony business was however hit by free-to-air call rates reductions, lower call minutes per subscriber and growth in free on-net calling and flat-fee subscriptions.

The company posted revenues of €380.1 million, up 1.2% year-on-year. Adjusted EBITDA was €227 million, up 8.1%.