February 9 (SeeNews) - A1 Telekom Austria Group said that its Bulgarian unit posted earnings before interest and taxes, amortisation and depreciation (EBITDA) of 218.3 million euro ($249.3 million) in 2021, up 13.4% on an annual comparison basis.
A1 Bulgaria's revenue grew 11.7% last year, reaching 574.1 million euro, as service revenue added 10.3% to 443.9 million euro, A1 Telekom Austria Group said in its 2021 annual financial statement published on Tuesday.
Revenue from mobile services rose 8.4% to 293.7 million euro last year, while fixed-line service revenue increased by 14.4% to 150.2 million euro.
"In Bulgaria, market dynamics remained mostly unchanged and positive trends prevailed also in the fourth quarter of 2021. Solid demand for high-value tariffs continued to shape mobile business, while in the fixed-line business TV bundles with higher broadband speeds were highly sought-after," the group said.
A1 Bulgaria's capital expenditures jumped 80% on the year to 102.9 million euro in 2021.
Total costs and expenses went up, mainly due to elevated electricity costs, increased taxes and use of rights costs as well as higher content and licence costs, A1 Telekom Austria Group said.
The number of A1 Bulgaria's wireless subscribers edged down by 0.2% year-on-year to over 3.7 million at the end of 2021.
Last year, Bulgaria's communications regulator awarded a 20-year 5G frequency licences with national coverage to the three main telecommunication companies operating in the country in a tender that fetched 13.4 million levs ($8.0 million/6.8 million euro). A1 Bulgaria received a licence for using frequencies in the 3600-3700 MHz spectrum for which it proposed to pay a one-off fee of 4.7 million levs, the Communications Regulation Commission (CRC) said at the time.
A1 Bulgaria competes with Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC), which operates under the brand name Vivacom and is part of Dutch-based United Group, and Telenor Bulgaria owned by Dutch-registered investment group PPF.
($ = 0.8757 euro)