Multimedia Polska wards off decline as it awaits OK for Liberty deal

Polish cable operator Multimedia Polska has seen its revenues dip slightly, with EBITDA remaining stable for the first half, a result hailed by its CEO as “moderately positive” in a situation where the operator’s performance has been negatively affected by a regulatory delay in approving its acquisition by Liberty Global.

Revenues dipped by 2% year-on-year to PLN343.3 million (€80.7 million), while EBITDA for the first six months was PLN173.6 million, compared with PLN173.4 million a year earlier.

TV revenue was up by 1.9%, while broadband and telephony revenue fell by 7.2% and 12.7% respectively. TV now represents 54.2% of revenue compared with 30.5% for internet and 12% for telephony.

The operator had 1.71 million revenue-generating units at the end of June, up 3% year-on-year. The company had 766,000 customers, with 119,000 using at least three services and 316,000 using at least two. The number of service per customer grew from 2.08 to 2.23 year-on-year, while ARPU grew from PLN68.3 to PLN69.

CEO Andrzej Rogowski said that the company remained under pressure while awaiting the decision by regulator UOKiK on whether Liberty Global’s acquisition and merger of the company with Polish unit UPC Poland could go ahead. He said that despite the “difficulties in maintaining the group in an upward trend”, the results were “moderately positive, especially in the context of significant cost reductions” which had not compromised the “continued high satisfaction of our subscribers”.

In July, Orange Polska agreed to acquire Multimedia Polska’s energy supply subsidiary, which Liberty Global did not want to include in its acquisition of the operator. The sale is subject to approval by the Polish competition regulator.