In 2013 T-HT maintained market leading position in all business segments
T-Hrvatski Telekom (Reuters: THTC.L, HT.ZA; Bloomberg: THTC LI, HTRA CZ), Croatia’s leading telecommunications provider, announces audited results for the year ended 31 December 2012.
Group Highlights
- Revenue down 7.6% to HRK 7,456 million or EUR 991 million (2011: HRK 8,067 million, EUR 1,086 million)
- Underlying revenue down 7.8%
- Non voice revenue grow 3.2%
- Fixed broadband ARPA up 2.4% to HRK 126
- Mobile data subscribers up 30.5% to 862,183
- Smartphone sales at 52.0 % of total handsets sold
- EBITDA down 8.0% to HRK 3,376 million (EUR 449 million) and 45.3% margin (2011: HRK 3,670 million or EUR 494 million, 45.5%)
- EBITDA before exceptional items down 8.1% to HRK 3,520 million (EUR 468 million), margin at 47.2% (2011: HRK 3,832 million or EUR 516 million, 47.5%)
- Net profit down 6.4% at HRK 1,696 million (EUR 226 million), margin at 22.7%
- Operating cash flow down 2.2% to HRK 2,982 million (EUR 397 million)
- Capex up 25.8% to HRK 1,180 million
- Proposed dividend of HRK 20.51 per share; payout ratio equals 100% (2011: HRK 22.14 per share)
- 6% mobile fee abolished, effective 9 July 2012
Residential Segment
- T-HT maintained its leading position in all three markets (mobile, fixed line and IP)
- Mobile subscribers down 5.4% (down 5.5% on Q3 2012)
- 526,130 broadband retail access lines, down 2.4% (up 0.5% on Q3 2012), and 343,647 TV customers, up 7.0% (up 4.4% on Q3 2012)
- Revenue down 7.5%, due mainly to lower voice revenue in mobile and fixed
- Contribution to EBITDA of HRK 2,838 million, down 8.9%
Business Segment
- Substantial customer base across all segments and products
- Mobile subscribers up 2.9% (down 1.8% on Q3 2012)
- 106,864 broadband retail access lines, down 0.4% (up 1.8% on Q3 2012) and 20,677 TV customers, up 6.1% (up 3.4% to Q3 2012)
- Revenue down 7.6%, due largely to lower voice revenues in mobile and fixed
- Contribution to EBITDA of HRK 2,068 million, down 9.7%
Ivica Mudrinić, President of the Management Board (CEO), said: "We witnessed a very challenging year in 2012, with the economic environment deteriorating more than previously anticipated; GDP for 2012 is expected to contract again, down 1.8%, whilst all major economic issues remained unresolved and no meaningful far-reaching structural reforms have been initiated. The residential and corporate sectors tightened spending still further and the public sector delayed investments in IT. All these factors are reflected in our financial performance; revenue is down 7.6% while EBITDA before exceptional items declined 8.1%. However, we have maintained our leading position in all segments, including ICT, and have managed to maintain healthy margins. I’m very glad to be able to announce a proposed dividend per share of HRK 20.51 to the General Assembly.
Operationally, we have recently outlined our Transformation Program, with the key themes of the e-transformation of the business and migration to an all-IP network. These initiatives also target an improvement in the cost structure across the Group. I am pleased to report that T-HT is one of the leading companies in the broader region with regard to the extent of its migration to all-IP networks. In addition, we have introduced a broad range of products for residential and corporate customers, including for example integrated telecommunications-IT offerings.
With regard to innovation, alongside our achievements in developing new Cloud-based services, investment in LTE and our NFC-based mobile payments pilot, in December 2012 we presented the cutting edge TeraStream technology, which is currently being piloted. TeraStream, the network of the future, is an extremely simplified IP network concept that combines network technology, data center technology, and fiber infrastructure.
Looking ahead to 2013, we remain highly cautious and expect the difficult economic environment to continue, with the latest GDP 2013 growth forecasts now lowered from slightly positive to around -0.2%. We have set our 2013 outlook to reflect this sentiment and will focus on further cost discipline. In light of this, I’m very proud that we have recently agreed and signed a new collective agreement with trade unions, and this will remain in force until 30 June 2014."