The O2 operator increased its net profit by 12.9 percent year-on-year to 4.89 billion crowns in three quarters this year. Operating revenues rose by 2.9 percent to 30.08 billion crowns. The main sources of growth were revenues from O2 TV, mobile data, information and communication technologies and revenue growth in Slovakia. The company announced this in a press release. The majority owner of O2 is the investment group PPF, which controls over 90 percent of the shares.
“While operating revenues increased 2.9 percent year-over-year in the first nine months, growth alone slowed to 0.8 percent in the third quarter. The development of 5G networks will require increased construction and operating expenses in both Slovakia and the Czech Republic. , “said CFO Tomáš Kouřil.
The total number of registered mobile SIM cards in the Czech Republic rose by 1.4 percent year on year to 6.023 million at the end of September. The mobile contract services base was 3.348 million. The company had 2.25 million customers in Slovakia.
“With the advent of 5G networks, people are dramatically increasing their mobile data consumption – up 67 percent year-on-year in the first nine months. into the future, “added CEO Jindřich Fremuth.
The number of SIMs for communication between different devices increased by 70,000 to 800,000. The number of customers of one of the O2 TV service tariffs, which operates on a fixed line from O2 and on an internet connection from any provider, reached 586,000 as of 30 September, ie 83,000 more. The number of high-speed cable and wireless customers increased by 26,000 to 875,000 year-on-year.
In the Czech Republic, operating revenues increased by 2.6 percent to CZK 24.38 billion in the first nine months of the year. Revenues in the mobile segment rose by 1.6 percent to CZK 15.1 billion. In fixed terms, revenues increased by 4.3 percent to CZK 9.28 billion. In Slovakia, total operating revenues increased by 3.3 percent year on year to 5.79 billion. CZK. Consolidated capital expenditures rose by 44 percent to CZK 1.99 billion.
According to Komerční banka analyst Bohumil Trampota compared to previous quarters, the lower revenue growth in the last quarter was due to new regulation, when part of the revenues from mobile termination fell out. However, costs were reduced accordingly, so it did not affect margins. “The pandemic still has a negative effect on roaming, but this has been more than eliminated by other operations, especially mobile data services. Traditionally, fixed-segment voice services have declined, but this has been offset by services in the Internet and O2 TV segments,” he added.
According to J&T bank analyst Milan Vaníček, the results for the third quarter are positive mainly due to higher-than-expected cost savings. “However, more than the numbers themselves, investors are waiting for the offer to displace minority shareholders, which, according to earlier information, the majority shareholder intends to launch. on the development of the share price, “he added.