COSMOTE Romania registers sustained growth in Q3 2011 / Romania / News / MobileNews

10-11-2011 by Dan Dragomir

RO: COSMOTE Romania registers sustained growth in Q3 2011

COSMOTE Romania announces key performance indicators for the third quarter of 2011 fiscal year, ended September 30, 2011, as reported by OTE Group. In Q3 2011, COSMOTE Romania continued its successful track, strenghtening its financial performance in all main indicators. Moreover, COSMOTE maintained a sustained growth in its business customer base, as a result of the company's competitive and appealing offers. Thus, in Q3 2011, the business segment grew by more than 10% versus Q2, 2011.

COSMOTE's total customer base in Romania, including Zapp, was 6.5 million at the end of September 2011, of which 22.8% was postpaid. The constant expansion of the business segment, as well as the very good performance on the data services segment, generated significant revenue growth. The number of postpaid customers also rose despite fierce competition in this segment. Consequently, service revenues grew by 7% in Q3, compared to the same quarter last year.

Total revenues in the third quarter of 2011 reached 120.6 million Euro, posting a 2.6% increase on a yearly basis, while EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) rose to 29.5 million Euro, an increase of 26.6% versus Q3 2010. EBITDA margin stood at 24.5%.

Blended ARPU (Average Revenue Per User), at 5.4 Euro for Q3 2011, increased by 15% versus Q3 2010.

"We are very pleased with the third quarter's financial achievements. Our EBITDA performance stood at high levels despite the unpredictable economic environment, fierce competition and significant investments in broadband network and data services. This performance is sustained, among others, by portability where for the past three years we remain the first choice operator of Romanians. All these achievements motivate and challenge us to do even better. We will continue to focus on the corporate and broadband segments, as well as on network enhancement, latest technologies, customer care, retail and continue to create long-term value for our shareholders", said Konstantinos Apostolou, COSMOTE Romania's Chief Financial Officer.