Tele Columbus turns in solid growth

Tele Columbus CEO and chairman, Ronny Verhelst.

German cable operator Tele Columbus has turned in solid second quarter results, growing revenue by 2.3% to €54.3 million and increasing EBITDA by 9.2% to €27.7 million.

The country’s number three operator, which completed the acquisition of number four player Primacom at the end of July, grew its internet and telephony subscriber bases to 213,000 and 202,000 respectively, boosted by the migration of 22,000 low-speed internet-only customer to dual-play flat-rate products in May. RGUs per subscriber reached an all time high of 1.5 at the end of June, up from 1.42 a year ago.

The operator connected an additional 15,000 households to its upgraded two-way network in the quarter, taking the total of upgraded homes passed to 955,000. Homes connected grew by 9,000 in the quarter to 1.68 million, offsetting losses of some housing industry contracts. This number excludes the 1.2 million Primacom homes added at the end of July.

Tele Columbus said it is planning to roll out its 400Mbps internet service, launched in Potsdam in April, to new regions.

Tele Columbus confirmed its guidance for the rest of this year, with a target of 4-6% revenue growth, stabilisation of the number of homes connected at 2014 levels, capex of €80-€100 million and an increase of penetration of two-way upgraded networks to 60% by the end of the year.

“Tele Columbus continues to successfully deliver on its growth strategy: For the second quarter of 2015, we report 2.3% top line growth paired with strong EBITDA development,” said Ronny Verhelst, CEO.

“We have good traction in our new product offerings which confirms that we are successfully meeting the needs of our customers and partners in the housing industry. Our progress to date has been driven by our high-performance infrastructure and highly competitive product portfolio. Going forward, we see our development moving to the next level by joining forces with Primacom and maximising the potential of our combined platform.”