Like-for-like EBITDA variance improved to -0.9% year-on-year
Solid operational results
Belgacom continued its solid commercial traction in the second quarter 2014, in spite of an elevated competitive intensity. Belgacom grew its customer base for mobile, Belgacom TV and Fixed Internet and made good progress in the convergence strategy:
+ 98,000 Mobile Postpaid cards, of which 35,000 free data cards and M2M; total of 3,957,000, including voice and data mobile cards sold through CBU, EBU, Tango, MVNO and SDE&W segments
-46,000 Mobile Prepaid cards, of which -11,000 Mobisud cards; total of 1,634,000
+ 30,000 Belgacom TV subscriptions, increasing the total TV customer base to 1,525,000
+ 12,000 Fixed Internet lines, with a total Internet customer base of 1,705,000
-26,000 Fixed Voice lines, with a total Fixed Voice customer base of 2,876,000
+ 12,000 4-play households to a total of 368,000; +14% versus last year.
Strong financials
In the second quarter of 2014, the Belgacom Group generated revenue of EUR 1,568 million, i.e. -0.9% versus the same period of 2013. On like-for-like basis, i.e. excluding a EUR 46 million capital gain on building sales recorded in the second quarter 2014 and the impact from the deconsolidated subsidiaries, Belgacom's Group revenue ended -1.1% below the prior year.
Belgacom's like-for-like revenue variance showed a substantial improvement from the -6.0% in the first quarter 2014 as a result of a further trend improvement of Belgacom's core revenue, -1.7% year-on-year, and a revenue recovery from Belgacom's International Carrier Services, +0.5% year-on-year.
Belgacom reported for the second quarter 2014 a Group EBITDA of EUR 491 million, i.e. a year-on-year increase of EUR 61 million or +14%. Excluding special items for a total amount of EUR 65 million, the Belgacom Group second-quarter EBITDA declined by -0.9% on a like-for-like basis. The improvement from the prior quarter, which showed a -5.0% decline on a like-for-like basis, resulted from the good progress in the Consumer and Business segment results driven by improved revenue trends and lower operating expenses.
In the second quarter of 2014, Belgacom invested EUR 245 million, bringing its total capex to EUR 425 million over the first six months of 2014. This included the capitalisation of the three-year broadcasting rights of Belgian Jupiler Pro league football acquired in June 2014 and continued network and IT investments.
In the second quarter 2014, Belgacom generated EUR 272 million in Free Cash Flow (FCF), or EUR 225 million more than for the same period of 2013, mainly attributable to cash received from the sale of consolidated companies and buildings as well as to lower income tax payments, partly due to timing differences.
Dominique Leroy, CEO of Belgacom:
"I'm proud to announce a solid set of results for the second quarter 2014. Thanks to our efforts to increase the overall customer experience and our successful commercial activities, we managed to keep a strong commercial momentum, in spite of an intense competitive environment. Our growing customer base for TV, Internet and especially mobile, combined with our disciplined pricing strategy, resulted in sound topline trends for both the Consumer and Enterprise segments. Furthermore, the implementation of our 'Fit for Growth' strategy is also showing in good cost control, leading to a solid underlying EBITDA for the second quarter. Encouragingly, some first structural cost benefits are being realized, bringing us a step closer to our EBITDA growth objectives in 2016. An eventful second-half 2014 lies ahead in which we will continue our efforts on enhancing customer experience, network leadership and simplification; and bringing some new commercial opportunities through the acquired broadcasting rights of Jupiler Pro league matches, the partnership with Apple and especially our rebranding to Proximus. With Belgacom's sound business trends and some positive one-offs being higher than expected, we raise our full-year EBITDA expectations and estimate the year-on-year decline to be between '-1% to -2%' compared with 2013.
Proximus SA is the leading telecommunications operator in Belgium. Net sales (including intragroup) break down by activity as follows:
- telecommunication services to individuals (36.4%): fixed telephony (1 million installed lines at the end of 2023), mobile telephony (3.3 million clients), Internet access services (1.8 million subscribers), interactive television broadcasting (1,674,000 subscribers), convergent services (1,112,000 subscribers), etc.;
- telecommunication services to enterprises (35.2%): fixed telephony (566,000 lines at the end of 2023), mobile telephony (1.8 million post-paid cards distributed), Internet access services and data transmission (440,000 subscribers). The group also sells wholesale communication minutes to other operators located in Belgium;
- carrier services (18.4%; BICS): connectivity and capacity services for telecom operators and international service providers;
- other (10%).
Belgium accounts for 71.7% of net sales.
PROXIMUS SA 
