KPN beats expectations despite minor TV subs dip

Dutch telco KPN has seen a positive quarter despite a loss of TV subscribers.

Overall, the company beat analyst expectations with a 2.9% growth in its core earnings to reach €599 million. 

Revenue dropped 1.8% to €1.37 billion, with the stunted growth attributed to competition in the market and declining handset sales – what the company refers to as “legacy services” . It did see growth in bundled services in consumer, security and workspace services and professional services in business, and wholesale.

In terms of the company’s TV business, KPN lost 2,000 IPTV subscribers while broadband dipped by 17,000. KPN attributes both of these losses to the integration of the Telfort brand as acquisition of customers at the lower end of the market was discontinued. Fixed ARPU increased 5.4% year-over-year to € 48 in Q3 2019, mainly driven by price adjustments which were introduced in June. 

CEO Joost Farwerck said that the quarterly performance “continues to reflect a mix of an ongoing competitive environment and the impact of our strategic actions.” 

This was one of Farweck’s first public outings as CEO followed the botched appointment of former Proximus boss Dominique Leroy, who was named in an Belgian insider trading investigation following her announced move.