Altice Europe, the telco and cable group controlled by Franco-Israeli tycoon Patrick Drahi, reported better-than-expected Q3 results, driven by the turnaround of its French subsidiary.

Group revenue over the period was up 6.3 per cent on a comparable basis from a year ago to €3.67 billion, while core operating profits advanced by 8.2 per cent to €1.41 billion.

Altice France reported an improved revenue trend in Q3, with revenue growth in all segments (residential, business services and media). This strong financial performance was underpinned by Altice France maintaining very healthy commercial momentum in the third quarter, continuing to reduce churn in both fixed and mobile. Altice France saw Q3 revenue growth of 7.2 per cent year on year.

In Portugal, Altice reported a quarter of solid level of customer acquisition, driving sustained revenue growth in the third quarter. The residential fixed base grew by +5k customers, with fixed and mobile churn maintained at the lowest levels ever. Fibre customer net additions were +38k, continuing to be supported by the expansion of fibre coverage.

Patrick Drahi, Altice Europe founder, commented: “Q3 2019 results show another acceleration in revenue growth for Altice France, Altice International and Altice Europe overall. In Altice France, our strong results were supported by all segments growing, including residential revenue growth year over year for the second successive quarter. This strong financial performance has been underpinned by the successful operational turnaround achieved by the new management teams, put in place 24 months ago. Group EBITDA growth remains very strong this quarter, paving the way for organic deleveraging. We reiterate all FY 2019 guidance. We continue to invest in our proprietary best-in-class infrastructure, commensurate with Altice Europe’s leading position in each market. In France and Portugal in particular, we have significantly expanded our proprietary fibre infrastructures again this quarter. ”

“We continue to optimise our capital structure and recently extended the average maturity of the capital structure through a refinancing of €2.5 billion. As part of this refinancing we priced the lowest coupon debt ever raised by Altice France under both Altice Europe’s and previous shareholder’s ownership. This refinancing demonstrates the significant opportunity ahead on which we are focused today, to materially reduce our annual cash interest costs through both average cost and debt reduction,” he added.

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