May 10 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian telecommunications group BTC said on Tuesday its adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) for the first quarter fell 3.5% on the year to 80.1 million levs ($46.5 million/40.9 million euro) despite higher revenue.
The company's adjusted EBITDA margin, a key performance indicator for telecoms, declined to 38% from 41% in the first quarter of 2015, BTC said in a press release.
BTC, which operates under the brand name Vivacom, recorded total revenues of 211.7 million levs in January-March, up 5.2% year-on-year, on the back of higher mobile services revenue and the revenues from the acquired last July radio and TV transmission services provider NURTS.
The revenue from mobile services rose 5.7% on the year to 120 million levs, whereas fixed line services generated 5.9% less revenue of 82.5 million levs. NURTS' revenue was 10.9 million levs.
The number of Vivacom's mobile subscribers increased by an annual 4% to 3.01 million at the end of March, with the share of pre-paid subscriptions rising to 87% from 85%. On the other hand, the number of fixed-line subscribers dropped 12.5% to 1.02 million.
In the data segment, Vivacom's fixed broadband subscribers surged 10% to 400,000. The company remains the second biggest market player in this segment with a 24% share.
The telecom launched on Monday its 4G network in three cities and is about to expand its coverage in the nearest future.
On the local mobile segment, BTC competes with the local units of Norway's Telenor and Telekom Austria, as well as with 4G operator Max.
Bulgaria has a population of around 7.2 million.