Tele Columbus profitable growth
September 11, 2014
Tele Columbus Group, the third largest German cable network operator, substantially increased revenues and earnings in the first half of 2014. Revenues grew by 3.6 per cent year on year to €107.0 million in the period between January and June 2014 and total output increased by 4.7 per cent to €114.7 million, mainly driven by the positive momentum in the Internet and Telephony services business. Normalised EBITDA was up 11.6 per cent year on year to €48.8 million, resulting in an increase in margin (as a per cent of revenues) by more than three percentage points to 45.6 per cent (42.4 per cent).
“We have secured our financing for the medium term and have realigned Tele Columbus from an organisational and strategic perspective so that we were able to focus on driving the operating business in recent months. This effort is already paying off nicely,” said CEO Ronny Verhelst, commenting on the half-year numbers.
Year-to-date revenue growth results largely from Tele Columbus’ increasing success in selling additional products beyond the traditional cable TV service to existing customers (up-and cross-selling). The fast internet access and telephony businesses continued to demonstrate particularly strong momentum with a year on year growth of customer contracts (RGUs) 23.9 per cent and 25.1 per cent respectively. Driven to a large extent by this successful sales effort, the monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) increased by 6.9 per cent to €14.1 as of June 30, 2014 (previous year: €13.2). These strong figures represent a further proof of the success of the first investment programs implemented in the last few years as well as the forceful shift of the Company’s strategic focus towards growth.
Tele Columbus expects the positive development of its business to continue throughout the remainder of the year. “We have a clear strategy, focused on sustainable profitable growth. By progressively capitalising on Tele Columbus’ huge potential in the years ahead, we have the potential and capabilities to become the next success story in Europe’s largest and most attractive cable market,” said Ronny Verhelst.