Last year, the company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation and special losses (EBITDAal) rose by 7% year-on-year to 988 million euro, with 10% organic growth when adjusted for the sale of its tower portfolio in August, United Group said in a press release.
United Group's performance was driven by an increasing mobile post-paid subscriber base, business-to-business (B2B) IT solutions and equipment demand, especially in Greece, and growth in advertising and media sales in the group's Pay TV and advertising arm United Media.
The company’s broadband and telecom services reached over 5.3 million households in 2023, with mobile services serving over 7.34 million subscribers. For its part, United Media reached 8.2 million households.
"2023 was really a year of strategic integrations of our acquisitions in Greece, Bulgaria, and Croatia, with all the major initiatives, including cost synergies, completed by the year-end. Additionally, our further investments in fibre and 5G technology, as well as pivotal spectrum acquisitions, contributed to our solidified position across all major markets," United Group CEO Victoriya Boklag said.
United Group completed five acquisitions in 2023, it noted. At the same time, the group sold its non-core tower portfolio in Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia for 1.2 billion euro, the proceeds of which were used to de-lever the business and free up cash flow for future growth.
In February, the group finalised the acquisition of Bulgarian satellite TV and broadband services provider Bulsatcom, solidifying its position as the biggest operator in Bulgaria. Additionally, the company became the second-largest fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network provider in Greece as a result of its investment in FTTH infrastructure and secured the position of second-largest mobile operator in Slovenia.
Dutch-based United Group operates in Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Croatia and Greece.
