Proximus Group, a leading telecommunications company in Belgium, announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2023, showcasing significant revenue growth and successful expansion of its Fiber network.
For the second quarter of 2023, Proximus Group reported a revenue of EUR 1,495 million, representing a 4 percent increase compared to the same period last year. The company’s EBITDA totaled EUR 446 million, which, despite a 3.7 percent decline, indicates a robust financial performance.
Among the subsidiaries of Proximus Group, Telesign witnessed exceptional growth, with revenue surging by 18.9 percent to reach EUR 128 million. The direct margin also experienced a notable increase of 3.4 percent, reaching EUR 28 million.
However, BICS faced a slight decline in revenue by 1.1 percent, amounting to EUR 267 million. Despite this, BICS’ core services revenue recorded an impressive rise of 8.1 percent, primarily driven by higher mobility services and messaging revenue.
The Domestic segment of Proximus Group saw remarkable progress, with revenue growing by 4.2 percent to EUR 1,147 million. The Residential unit, in particular, recorded a revenue increase of 4.2 percent, mainly attributed to a EUR 19 million rise in Customer Services revenue and a EUR 7 million increase in revenue from Terminals.
Convergent revenue experienced a substantial increase of 7.7 percent, driven by customer growth and inflation-based price adjustments. The Business unit also achieved a revenue growth of 2.9 percent, with Business Services revenue showing a positive trend, rising by 0.8 percent, primarily led by robust performance in IT Services and Fixed Data.
Proximus Group invested EUR 612 million in capital expenditures during the first half of 2023, compared to EUR 557 million in the previous year. Notably, 29 percent of the total Capex was dedicated to Fiber-related investments. Proximus continued to expand its Fiber network, connecting and activating more customers while reducing Capex for its own Fiber build.
Proximus Group Capex totaled EUR 300 million over the second quarter of 2023, EUR 13 million above the comparable period in 2022, excluding spectrum and football rights licenses. This brings the total Capex over the first-half of 2023 to EUR 612 million, compared to EUR 557 million for the comparable base in 2022.
Over the first 6 months of 2023, the Fiber related investments counted for 29 percent of the total Capex against 37 percent for the first semester of 2022. By end of June 2023, Proximus was deploying Fiber in 115 cities and municipalities in Belgium. Compared to end-June 2022, Proximus increased its footprint by ~44 percent, reaching 1,483,000 premises with Fiber, representing a 25 percent Fiber population coverage. The Capex for Proximus’ own Fiber build is coming down from its peak in 2022 while the customer termination and activation costs are rising.
The ongoing mobile network consolidation (RAN) between Proximus and Orange Belgium continued to progress, while the company intensified its investments in Digitalization and IT transformation.
The second quarter of 2023 witnessed substantial growth for Proximus’ Domestic segment, with Mobile Postpaid experiencing a net addition of 48,000 customers. This increase was primarily driven by the successful launch of new Mobile Portfolios, which gained significant customer traction.
Furthermore, Proximus’ Fiber network expansion contributed to a strong growth in its Internet base, adding 13,000 new customers in a gradually growing market. The Residential convergent offers also performed exceptionally well, with an increase of 16,000 customers, resulting in a year-on-year growth of 5.4 percent.
Proximus’ Fiber offers were bolstered by the advertising campaign “You got the Fiber” and the nationwide launch of 10Gbps technology in April. These initiatives led to an additional 34,000 active Fiber customers during the second quarter of 2023.
By the end of June 2023, Proximus achieved an impressive national coverage rate of 25 percent, connecting nearly 1.5 million homes and businesses to its Fiber network.
Overall, Proximus Group demonstrated its ability to adapt to market changes, driving strong commercial momentum with new mobile postpaid portfolios and a successful Fiber network expansion. With the company’s continued efforts in digitalization and strategic investments, it remains well-positioned for sustained growth in the competitive telecommunications landscape.
