Romtelecom’s revenues fell to EUR145.5 million in January-March, from EUR160.2 million in the same period in 2012, due to a 16% decrease on the fixed line segment and a 24% decline in wholesale revenues that followed the termination rate cut implemented during 2012 by the Romanian telecom regulatory authority, parent group OTE said in its earnings report released Wednesday.
However, the termination rate cut had limited impact on EBITDA, the report reads.
Romtelecom’s EBITDA dropped by 5.7% in January-March this year to EUR38.1 million, from EUR40.4 million in the year-earlier period, while its profit margin grew to 26.2% from 25.2%.
The company’s revenues from TV services rose 9.2%, while revenues from broadband services advanced 6.5%.
The number of Romtelecom customers on the voice services segment (fixed line telephony and CDMA (Code division multiple access)) decreased by 5.9% between April 2012 and March 2013, from 2.44 million to 2.3 million users.
Compared to the year-earlier level, the total number of Romtelecom broadband customers rose 5.2% at the end of the first quarter in 2013, from 1.15 million to 1.21 million. With similarly high penetration rates (56%), the number of TV subscribers rose by 7.3%, compared to the end of the first three months in 2012, from 1.19 million to 1.27 million, the report also reads.
Total operating expenses (excluding D&A and one-off costs) were down 11.5% in the first quarter of 2013, with personnel expenses roughly unchanged from the same period in 2012. The company reported costs of EUR1.4 million with voluntary exit schemes.