- Increased revenue in the first three months of 2015
- Investment increased by 34.5 %, focus on infrastructure development and fast Internet access
- Continued Company transformation aimed at improvement of quality of service and customer experience
Hrvatski Telekom (Reuters: HT.ZA; Bloomberg: HTRA CZ), Croatia’s leading telecommunications provider, announces its results for the three months ended 31 March 2015.
In the first three months, Hrvatski Telekom saw revenue increase by 0.7 % compared to the same period of the previous year; total revenue amounted to HRK 1.619 billion. Hrvatski Telekom has thereby reinforced its position of Croatia's leading provider of telecommunications services.
In addition to the positive trend in revenue, the stabilization of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) has also continued. Despite increased costs due to transformation activities and the adverse economic environment, EBITDA before exceptional items amounted to HRK 622 million, for an EBITDA margin of 38.4 %. EBITDA declined by 1.2 % year-on-year. Net profit in the first quarter totalled HRK 151 million.
Focus on customers and investments
The first quarter of the current year was marked by the launch of a heavy investment cycle. Investments planned for the whole of 2015 exceed HRK 1.3 billion, which is an increase of more than 25 % as compared to 2014.
Already in the first three months of 2015, investments were increased by 34.5 % as compared to the same period of the previous year; the primary focus has been on the further development of mobile and fixed infrastructure, increased broadband access availability and capacity and the completion of the IP transformation project, where 83 % of customers have now been migrated.
Investment in additional radiofrequency spectrum enabled Hrvatski Telekom to be the sole operator in Croatia to double its internet access bitrates in the 4G network, from the present 75 Mbit/s to 150 Mbit/s.
Until the end of the year, the plan is to achieve 4G mobile network coverage in excess of 60 % of population, at speeds of up to 150 Mbit/s. In the fixed network, 50 % of households will have broadband access at bitrates of a minimum of 30 Mbp/s.
The first quarter also saw a continuation of the Company transformation started in 2014. A set of new activities was launched, aimed at improving organizational efficiency - a prerequisite for an enhanced quality of service and customer experience, which is the focus of the Company's operations in 2015.
The beginning of the year at Hrvatski Telekom was marked by the launch of the Cloud VPN service on the new European network of Deutsche Telekom. The new service, available in Croatia, Hungary and Slovakia, was developed by experts from Hrvatski Telekom.
Commenting on the results of the first quarter, Davor Tomašković, President of the Management Board of Hrvatski Telekom, said:
“At Hrvatski Telekom, the beginning of the year was marked by stable financial results, the continuation of Company transformation initiatives and the start of our investment cycle. We increased investments by 34.5 % and set infrastructure development and fast internet as our primary focus. We are reinforcing our position as the technology leader, thus forming the basis for offering the best customer experience and the best quality and the fastest services on the Croatian market.”