Proximus announced its investment strategy to meet consumer demand for data driven applications.
Proximus Group has invested EUR 688 million, excluding spectrum-related Capex, by end-September 2019, as compared with EUR 697 million during the same period in 2018.
Proximus made investments in new digital platforms, modernization of its transport network and its Fiber for Belgium project.
Proximus is deploying Fiber in 12 cities and municipalities, with Aalst, Vilvoorde and Knokke-Heist announced so far in 2019. Proximus invested in its mobile network to provide better quality mobile service.
The number of fixed Internet customers grew to 2,079,000 end September, with +8,000 lines added in the third quarter (+1.9 percent).
TV customer base touched 1,635,000, with +3,000 new subscriptions in the third quarter of 2019 (+1.9 percent).
Fixed Voice lines reached 2,440,000, a decrease of 36,000 lines in the third quarter of 2019 (-5.2 percent).
Mobile post-paid customer base grew by 23,000 cards over the third quarter (+2.6 percent) to 4,088,000. The number of pre-paid cards reached 742,000 (-11,000 cards in the third quarter, -13.5 percent). The number of M2M cards increased to 1,679,000 by end-September (+113,000 in the third quarter, +31.5 percent)
Proximus reached 1,104,000 convergent households and small offices (HH/SO), increasing its convergence rate to 59.6 percent on the total multi-play HH/SO, an increase of 1.9 p.p. year-on-year.
“We maintained a positive customer momentum, growing our Internet, TV and Mobile post-paid customer bases, supported by our convergence and segmentation strategy,” Sandrine Dufour, CEO ad interim of the Proximus Group.
Proximus posted domestic revenue of EUR 1,071 million (–2 percent) in the third quarter of 2019. Revenue from telecom services was EUR 782 million (–2 percent or EUR –16 million).
Revenue from Fixed Services impacted by the eroding Fixed Voice park and accompanying traffic. Proximus managed to grow both its Internet and TV customer base, despite intense competition.
Revenue from Mobile Services reached EUR 301 million (–3 percent). European regulation on tariffs for international calling and texting, applicable since mid-May 2019, had an effect throughout the full quarter.
Proximus posted direct margin of EUR 827 million for its domestic operations, -1.2 percent compared to the previous year.
Proximus reduced its domestic expenses by 2.9 percent, supported by the evolution for both its non-workforce expenses (-2.7 percent) and workforce expenses (-3 percent).
