Tele2 posts lacklustre TV numbers, but gets boost from Baltics

Swedish telco Tele2’s digital TV revenues dropped by 3% year-on-year to SEK664 million (US$60.8 million), with digital-terrestrial revenues accounting for the bulk of the fall – declining by 6% to SEK239 million. Cable and fibre TV revenues fell by 1% to SEK425 million.

In Sweden, digital TV subscribers dropped by 5,000 quarter-on-quarter to 867,000, a decelerating rate of decline compared with the same period last year. The digital-terrestrial base declined by 7,000 to 234,000, while cable and fibre TV fell by 2,000 to 629,000. The company’s fixed broadband base rose by 8,000 over the same period to end at 969,000.

Digital TV average revenue per subscriber was flat year-on-year, with a drop in cable and fibre average revenue being offset by a rise in DTT average revenue.

Despite the lacklustre performance of the TV business, and the Swedish consumer segment in general, Tele2 was able to post broadly positive results from the quarter thanks to strong growth in the Baltic states. Overall end user service revenue was up 3%, offsetting declines elsewhere.

Overall revenue for Tele2 was more or less flat year-to-year for the three months to September at SEK7.25 billion, while EBITDAaL grew by 3% organically to SEK2.78 billion.