Mixed results for Telenor Broadcast

Telenor Broadcast-owned Canal Digital lost 17,000 DTH satellite viewers in the second quarter, taking its total to 1.079 million. Cable TV subscribers fell by 7,000 taking the total to 732,000. However cable broadband subscribers grew by 12,000 to 216,000.

Canal Digital contributed revenues of NOK1.637bn (€183m) for the quarter, up slightly from NOK1.633bn for the same period last year, thanks to higher penetration of additional cable services. Last year’s figure was boosted by the resale of UEFA Euro 2008 football rights, according to Telenor. EBITDA was NOK577m up from NOK563m (with EBITDA for 2008 negatively affected by the cost of UEFA Euro 2008 rights).

Telenor Broadcast’s transmission and encryption activities contributed revenues of NOK577m, up year-on-year from NOK563m, with higher satellite revenues partly offset by lower conditional access sales, with EBITDA of NOK314m, up from NOK309m. Telenor Broadcast as a whole posted operating profit of NOK291m, up from NOK131m year-on-year.

Telenor reported overall revenues of NOK26.9bn for the quarter, up from NOK27bn for the same period in 2008. Profit after tax was NOK1.4bn, down from NOK3.5bn last year.