Operational results remain good in spite of intensified competitive pressure

Belgacom's operational performance under its brands Proximus and Scarlet was strong in the third quarter 2014, in spite of an elevated competitive intensity.  

  • ·+ 72,000 Mobile Postpaid cards of which 41,000 data cards in a Proximus Fixed Internet subscription and M2M; total of 4,029,000, including Voice and Data mobile cards sold through CBU, as well as M2M cards in EBU. Mobile cards from Tango, MVNO and SDE&W segment are included as well.
  • -46,000 Mobile Prepaid cards of which -10,000 Mobisud cards; total of 1,588,000
  • + 33,000 TV subscriptions, increasing the total TV customer base to 1,558,000: corresponds to total number of set-top boxes: 20,000 new unique TV customers and13,000 second-stream users.
  • + 13,000 Fixed Internet lines, with a total Internet customer base of 1,718,000 
  • -25,000 Fixed Voice Lines, leading to a total of 2,850,000 lines
Strong set of financials, continuing the positive trend from the prior quarter
  • The third quarter 2014 underlying revenue for Belgacom Group totaled EUR 1,487million, i.e. 1.0% below the previous year. Belgacom's core revenue increased by 1.1%, with both the Consumer and Business segment showing good improvement in their underlying revenue trend. Revenue from Belgacom's International Carrier Services (BICS) was down 6.1% in the third quarter. 
  • The Mobile Service revenue again showed a strong improvement for both the Consumer and Business segment, with third quarter variances of respectively -3% and +4% versus the prior year. The combined Mobile Service revenue therefore fully recovered to last year's third quarter level.
  • Belgacom's underlying EBITDA for the third quarter 2014 was EUR 431 million, up 1.5% from the previous year.  This results mainly from the continued improvement in Mobile revenue and the favorable trends in both personnel and other expenses, decreasing respectively by 3.0% and 3.4% for the quarter. 
  • In the third quarter of 2014, Belgacom invested EUR 198 million in it Fixed and Mobile networks, as well as in improving its IT systems.  This brought the so far invested amount to EUR 623 million.  
  • In the third quarter 2014, Belgacom generated EUR 238 million in Free Cash Flow (FCF), bringing the total year-to-date September Free Cash Flow to EUR 629 million. This is EUR 219 million more than last year, including the proceeds from sold consolidated companies and buildings. 
Belgacom to return a EUR 0.5 interim dividend

On 23 October 2014, Belgacom's Board of Directors approved to return to the shareholders a total gross interim dividend of EUR 0.50 per share.  The Board of Directors also confirmed their intention to pay a stable total gross dividend EUR 1.50 per share over the result of 2014, 2015 and 2016. 

  • Ex-coupon date: 10 December 2014
  • Record date: 11 December 2014
  • Payement date: 12 December 2014

Dominique Leroy, CEO of Belgacom: 

"I'm proud to announce a strong set of financials for the third quarter 2014, continuing the positive underlying trend from the prior quarter. Both the Consumer and Enterprise segment performed well, with good progress in their underlying revenue. Especially revenue from Mobile services showed a strong improvement thanks to the growing customer base and an increased mobile data usage, which was supportive for the mobile ARPU. Our TV revenue too was solid, showing double digit growth in the third quarter on a continuously growing customer base and good results from our entertainment offer and our TV-Replay service that enables our Proximus TV customers to watch television at a time that suits them.

Supported by our convergence strategy, the operational results remained good in spite of intensified competitive pressure over the quarter. With all our products now grouped under the Proximus brand since end-September, and our focus on improving customer experience, we will push convergence even further, and drive customer upselling.   

The progress made in the underlying revenue trends as well as some structural cost reduction through simplification give further confidence in our 'Fit for Growth'-strategy and brings us another step closer to our underlying EBITDA growth objective in 2016. "
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