Ono posts first-ever positive annual income

Ono has recorded positive net annual income for the first time. The Spanish pay-TV operator ended 2009 with net income of €50m, compared with a loss of €26m the previous year.

Ono ended the year with 1,902,000 residential customers, 17,000 less than in the previous year. It did, however, see subscriber growth during the fourth quarter after its sub base rose 0.7% on the previous quarter. The operator said it was focussing on promoting additional services to customers and had seen a growth in the proportion of subscribers taking triple-play services to 36% during the fourth compared to 34% a year earlier.

Ono recorded strong broadband customer growth, with a total of 1,326,000 subs at end-2009, an increase of 3.4%. However, the operator saw a decline in the number of pay-TV customers, down 6.2% to 975,000.  It said most of the losses occurred within its lower-priced TV Essential service. Telephony customers numbered 1,666,000, up 28,000 year-on-year.

Ono said it has exceeded market expectations with EBITDA of €730m, up 4.2%.