Weak first-quarter results at Telefonica showed the damage of the stagnant economy in Spain, with the numbers rescued by strong performance in Latin America. And worldwide the group added 9 per cent to its pay-TV subscriber base – 2.865 million compared to 2.613 million last March.

Overall the group had a 2 per cent fall in net profit to €1.62 billion). In general, slower growth in Europe was offset by fast growth in Latin America, particularly Brazil. In Spain revenues declined 5.6 per cent to €4.37 billion. The former monopoly is battling tough competition to attract and keep customers, and is trying to focus efforts on high-end clients while reining in costs.

Spanish voice revenues were down almost 9 per cent year-on-year, while Internet and broadband revenues were down 4 per cent.

Telefonica last month announced it would sack around 20 per cent of its Spanish workforce.

Categories: Articles, Business, Pay TV, Results