Numericable-SFR slows subscriber decline, ahead of schedule on synergies

Numericable-SFR has succeeded in arresting the number of mobile and fixed customers leaving it in the third quarter, after a period in which it suffered from a sever drop in its base.

Mobile customers at the of the third quarter numbered 21.807 million, down from 21.895 million in June, while fixed subscribers numbered 6.358 million, down from 6.4 million in June.

Numericable-SFR said that a successful back-to-school marketing campaign had helped shore up its base, with positive net additions to fixed and mobile post-paid bases in September.

Numericable-SFR posted revenues of €2.773 billion for the quarter, down 3.5% year-on-year and down 0.3% compared wth the second quarter. Consumer revenue dropped by 2.2% year-on-year and 0.5% quarter-on-quarter, boosted by a slight increase in mobile revenue.

The company said it had delivered €700 million of annualized synergies over the first nine months, exceeding its original plan, which forecast synergies of €1.1 billion over a three-year period.

EBITDA for the quarter was up 15% on an adjusted basis at €1.033 billion.

Numericable-SFR’s parent company Altice meanwhile reported €3.844 million in revenue for the quarter, down 2.9%, including €1.077 million of non-French revenue, down 0.6%.

EBITDA was up 13% at €1.532 billion, including €500 million from non-French operations.

Altice said revenue from Portugal Telecom was down 9.4% year-on-year, but that the decline had slowed to 1.9% quarter-on-quarter thanks to strong business-to-business and wholesale sales. In Israel, HOT stabilised its revenue at the expense of EBITDA margins as a result of lower-margin mobile contributions.

“Q3 2015 was another strong quarter for the Altice Group, with 13% growth in our adjusted EBITDA and 34% growth in our operating free cash flow, as we continue our successful strategy based on fixed and mobile convergence and the implementation of best practices and efficiencies across all of our operations,” said CEO Dexter Goei.

“We are particularly pleased with the strong start to the synergies realization plan in Portugal and with the improving revenue and customer base trends in France. We remain confident that our strategy based on accelerating investments in both fiber and 4G+ infrastructure and higher value generation through focus on quadruple play and use of our clear fiber advantage will continue to deliver results. After a period of significant M&A activity, our prime focus is on delivering on our operational plans and integrating our new US businesses.”