Page 19 - bne_Tech_03_2020

Telecom
March 2020 www.intellinews.com I Page 19
Makedonski Telekom’s net profit up 6% y/y in 2019
North Macedonia's largest telecoms company Makedonski Telekom said its unconsolidated net profit went up by 6% y/y to MKD1.5bn (€24.4mn) in 2019.
Makedonski Telekom is part of Deutsche Telekom, through Hungary’s Magyar Telekom, which owns 51% of the company. The Macedonian government holds a 34.8% stake.
Sales revenues rose by 4% y/y to MKD10.9bn, while operating costs increased 3% y/y at MKD9.2bn in 2019, the company said in a bourse filing.
Makedonski Telekom kept the leading position in the fixed telephony market with a 62.2% market share, servicing 215,800 clients last year.
Revenues from fixed voice services fell by 6.8% y/y, but the number of subscribers in this segment rose by an annual 1.6%.
In the mobile telephony segment, Makedonski
Telekom had a market share of 47.8% in 2019 with 1.22mn subscribers.
Revenues from mobile voice services declined 4.7% y/y, mainly as a result of lower revenues from pre-paid customers.
The company’s main rival in the mobile segment is one.Vip, part of Telekom Austria group.
The total number of broadband accesses at the end of 2019 increased by 4.1% to 204,200, while the broadband market share of Makedonski Telekom was 48.6%.
The number of households covered by optical access has increased to 34.8%% at the end of December, up by 21.2 percentage points.
Makedonski Telekom had a market share of 32.3% of the TV market in the country. IPTV subscribers grew by 6.2% y/y to 136,400 clients, as the service was well accepted by customers.
Romanian telco Digi grows by double digit rates in 2019
Romanian telecom group Digi Communications NV reported its operating profit (Ebitda) rose by 17% in 2019 versus 2018 to €380mn, faster than its revenues that expanded by only 14%.
The company’s indebtedness ratio – one of the key issues in the company’s financial statements, has marginally improved as the net debt increased as a slower rate.
The transition to IFRS16 accounting standards made a significant impact on its bottom line. The new accounting standards (not used to revise 2018 data) added €66mn to the figure, resulting in
a final IFRS16 Ebitda of €446mn.
The company’s net profit thus more than doubled from €18mn in 2018 to €41mn in 2019 – but the data is not comparable given the transition to the new accounting standards (no comparable data