Altice meets targets, completes Cablevision funding
October 28, 2015
Altice confirmed its annual profit target despite slowing Q3 sales at its French cable and mobile operator. Operating profit at the group rose by 13 per cent from the same quarter last year to €1.53 billion on a “pro forma” basis, which smooths out the impact of acquisitions on the group’s results. Sales slid 2.9 per cent to €3.84 billion over the same period.
Revenue suffered notably from a 3.5-per cent drop in sales to €2.77 billion Numericable-SFR, the French cable and mobile operator, Altice’s key business, which also includes operations in Belgium, Israel and Portugal.
Altice is in the process of becoming the fourth-largest cable company in the US through the acquisition of Cablevision and an earlier deal to acquire Suddenlink. Altice said that its $17.7 billion (€15.7 billion) deal to acquire Cablevision is now “fully funded” after two fund partners agreed to take a $1 billion stake. Funds advised by BC Partners (BCP) and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) agreed to buy 30 per cent of the equity of Cablevision for roughlyS$1 billion. The deal comes after Altice bought a 70 per cent majority stake in US cable operator Suddenlink from BCP and CPPIB in May, with the two funds retaining a 30 per cent interest in the business.