Deutsche Telekom sees strong TV growth in Germany, slower elsewhere

Deutsche Telekom’s German combined IPTV and satellite TV base increased by 3.8% year-on-year to reach 4.172 million at the end of the quarter to March, with 50,000 subscribers added in the first three months.

The quarterly additions were nearly three times those of the prior-year period.

Telekom’s domestic broadband base grew by 74,000 in the quarter to reach 14.8 million, up 1.8% year-on-year. Contract and prepaid mobile customer numbers also rose, by 3.8% and 4% respectively.

Germany generated €6.1 billion in revenues in the quarter, up 3%, with broadband contributing most to the rise.

Across Europe outside of Germany, Telekom’s TV base grew by only 0.7% overall to reach 4.2 million at the end of the first quarter, representing an increase over the first three months of 29,000..

The company attributed slower overall growth to the acquisition of exclusive rights to broadcast sports events in the prior year. With both telecommunications providers and OTT players offering TV services, the TV market is already saturated in many countries of our segment, it said.

Overall revenues in Europe outside of Germany reached €2.8 billion, up 3.8%. The company said that its focus on the continued build-out of high-speed network infrastructure drove increases in broadband and TV revenues, which almost entirely offset the expected declines in voice telephony revenues and wholesale revenues.

Deutsche Telekom’s overall revenues for the first quarter were more or less flat, up 0.3% to €27.8 billion (but down 0.5% organically). Adjusted EBITDA stood at €11.5 billion, up 0.7%.

The main event for Telekom during the quarter was the successful sale of a majority stake in its tower business in Germany and Austria to DigitalBridge and Brookfield. The sale was the main factor behind a near quadrupling of reported net profit compared with the first quarter of the prior year to €15.4 billion.

“We have reached a milestone in the implementation of our strategy,” said CEO Tim Höttges.

“We now see in the figures how the tower transaction has created value for Deutsche Telekom.”