TV growth boosts Belgacom full-year expectations

Belgacom added 39,000 TV subscriptions in the third quarter, taking its total TV customer base to 1.34 million.

The Belgian telco sold subscriptions to 32,000 new households during the three months to September, and additionally sold 7,000 second-stream subscriptions to existing subscribers.

Belgacom added 12,000 fixed internet lines in the quarter, taking its internet base to 1.626 million. It added 37,000 multi-play packs to its existing total, taking multi-play packs to 1.214 million.

Success in TV and broadband helped mitigate what Belgacom described as “contained” fixed-line erosion and a decline in pre-paid mobile cards.

Belgacom revised its full-year guidance upwards. It now expects full-year revenue to grow by 1%, with EBITDA decline limited to between 4% and 5%.

Consumer revenues for the third quarter amounted to €587 million, up 2.8% year-on-year. Revenues directly attributed to TV amounted to €61 million, up 18.9%. TV ARPU was €18.10, up 1.5%.