The revenue decline was mainly due to a 14% decrease in voice services.
“In the second quarter of 2011, signs of stabilization of the Romanian economy became more widespread, but the telecommunications market remained dominated by highly aggressive offers,” OTE said in a report Thursday.
According to the report, the revenue decline was due to a drop in voice services, reflecting a 5% line loss and 9% lower average revenue per user (ARPU) compared to the same interval in 2010.
Romtelecom’s EBITDA margin increased from 13.7% to 17.6% and its EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) loss stood at EUR12 million, from EUR41.5 million in the second quarter of 2010.
The number of voice service customers decreased to 2.558 million, while the number of broadband Internet customers climber 23.1% to 1.084 million users. On the television service segment (DTH, IPTV, cable), the number of Romtelecom clients increased by about 31% to 1.222 million.
The number of subscriptions for services offered by Romtelecom increased by 8.3% compared to June 2010, to about 4.9 million.
Costs entailed by the voluntary leave program dropped by 58.1% in the second quarter of the year, to EUR7.2 million, from EUR17.2 million in the same interval last year.
The company’s operating expenses dropped 11% in the analyzed period, and personnel costs (payroll and benefits) decreased by 16%.
On July 1, Romtelecom had about 7,500 employees, down 1,500 compared to July 2010.
In the first half of 2011, Romtelecom’s revenues decreased by 9% to EUR332.4 million, and EBITDA dropped 38.6% to EUR51.4 million. The EBITDA margin fell to 15.5%, from 22.9% in the same interval in 2010. The company’s EBIT loss stood at EUR28.7 million in the first half of 2011, from EUR38.2 million in the first half of 2010.
Voluntary leave expenses increased 37.4% in the first six months of the year to EUR27.9 million, from EUR20.3 million.