In the first 9M of 2019, DIGI recorded an increase in revenue of 15.6%, increase in EBITDA of 35.7% and an increase in net profit of 14.8%.
In the first nine months of 2019 DIGI Communications recorded EUR 874.6m, showing a solid increase of 15.6% YoY.
In the Romanian market, the company obserevd an increase in revenue of 8.3%, amounting to EUR 559.7m. Revenue growth in Romania was primarily driven by an increase in the fixed internet and data and cable TV RGUs, as well as increase in our mobile telecommunication services and cable TV ARPUs.
In the Hungarian market, DIGI recorded revenues of EUR 163.6m, noting an increase of 21.2%, while the Q3 lagged by 2.7%. The lower performance in Q3 (presented in EUR) could be attributed to the decrease in ARPU and to the foreign exchange impact of the depreciation of the HUF related to EUR in the reported period.
In the Spanish market, Digi witnessed a high increase in revenues of 52.2% YoY, amounting to EUR 137.9m. Such an increase came on the back of the rise in mobile telecommunication services RGUs from roughly 1.21m at the end of Q3 2018 to approximately 1.73m in Q3 2018 (+42.5%). This increase could be attributed mainly to new customer acquisitions as a result of more attractive and affordable mobile and data offerings.
Turning our attention to the operating expenses, in the first 9M of 2019, they amounted to EUR 766.6m (+14.7% YoY). The highest increase in operating expenses could be observed in the Spanish market the highest increase (EUR 38.5m YoY). The large increase refers mainly to costs of fixed telephony, internet and data and mobile interconnection expenses. Starting from September 2018, Digi Spain provided fixed internet and telephony services as resale products. Salaries expenses increased as a result of a larger employee’s base.
As a result of all of the above-mentioned, DIGI reported an adjusted EBITDA of EUR 326.9m, which represents an increase 35.7% As a result, EBITDA margin observed an improvement of 5.5 p.p. and currently stands at 37.4%. Meanwhile, operating profit amounted to EUR 105.6m, representing an increase of 31%.
Going further down the P&L, the company recorded further increase in net financial loss by EUR 21.4m and currently stands at EUR -62.6m. In Q3, net loss from FX amounted to EUR 11.1m (compared to a foreign exchange gain of €0.9 million from previous period), which has contributed to the increase of the net financial loss. Besides that, interest expenses increased due to the additional issue of the EUR 200 million Bonds from February 2019.
In the 9M of 2019, net profit amounted to EUR 24m, representing an increase of 14.8%.
