August 3 (SeeNews) - The pro forma earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of Telekom Romania Mobile, formerly Cosmote, fell by an annual 26.4% to 29.5 million euro ($34.9 million) in the first half of 2017, its parent company, Greece's OTE, said on Thursday.
Pro forma EBITDA margin fell to 13.8% from 18.0% in the first half of 2017, OTE said in a financial statement. Its total revenues also decreased, falling 3.9% on the year to 214.3 million euro in the six months through June.
In the second quarter alone, Telekom Romania Mobile booked a 13.8 million euro EBITDA, down 36.7% on the year. Total revenues fell 3.3% on the year during March-June to 106.5 million euro, mainly due to lower service revenue, as a result of lower customer base.
"Working together with the Romanian fixed-line operations, Telekom Romania Mobile is taking steps to improve its performance, including enhanced 4G capabilities, refocused sales efforts, and cost optimization," OTE said.
In the second quarter of 2017, total operating expenses, excluding depreciation, amortization, impairments, charges related to voluntary leave schemes, restructuring costs and non-recurring litigation costs, rose 4.4% on the year, mainly due to cost of telecommunication services, personnel and indirect goods and services purchased.
Telekom Romania Mobile’s total customer base shrank by 13.3% on the year to 4.8 million at end-June, of which 33% was postpaid.
The total number of business customers grew by 1.7% compared to the second quarter of 2016, reflecting the company’s targeted offers for professional users and synergies with fixed-line operations.
Blended average revenue per user (ARPU) increased by 5.9% on the year to 5 euro in the second quarter.
Telekom Romania Mobile's EBITDA fell by an annual 6.2% to 81.7 million euro in 2016.
Deutsche Telekom is present in Romania through its 40% shareholding in OTE. OTE's units in Romania - fixed-line operator RomTelecom and mobile operator Cosmote - were rebranded as Telekom Communications Romania and Telekom Mobile Romania, respectively, in September 2014.
($ = 0.8444 euro)