Polsat Plus TV base declines, multiplay grows, costs hit bottom line

Polish pay TV operator Polsat Plus Group saw its pay TV revenue-generating base decline by 222,000 year-on-year to the end of June, down 4.3%, which the company attributed to price changes and a change in strategy to focus on online video, with a consequent steepening of the decline in DTH subscribers.

Polsat Plus saw its internet RGU base fall by 1.6% or 32,000 due to fewer users of dedicated mobile internet offerings, partially offset by growth in the fixed-line base.

Polsat Plus said its multiplay strategy was paying off, with 42% of customers now taking a multiplay offering. Some 2.45 million multiplay customers took a total of 7.39 million services. ARPU increased by 2.3% year-on-year.

Polsat Plus turned in revenue of PLN3.29 billion (US$803 million) for the second quarter, up 1.9%, boosted by factors including the sale of mobile devices, offset by lower wholesale revenue.

Revenue from advertising and sponsorship from TV amounted to PLN345 million, up 4.4%, in line with the overall TV advertising market’s growth of 4.3%.

Polsat Plus Group posted EBITDA of PLN799 million, down 10.6%, due to increases in costs amounting to 4.6% to PLN2.945 billion. Contributors included higher energy and maintenance costs, and increased content costs, as well as salary costs.

As a result, the group’s net profits plummeted by 97.1% to PLN8 million for the quarter.