TVN posts solid first-half results

TVN-owned Polish DTH satellite pay-TV platform ‘n’ had 683,000 subscribers at the end of the second quarter, which the operator said was inline with expectations.

Post-paid subscriber additions for the first half numbered 61,000, taking the post-paid total to 557,000 in June, of which 554,000 had been activated. However, growth slowed to 10,000 in the second quarter. ARPU was PLN59 (€14.25), up from PLN49 in June 2008.

‘n’ turned in revenue of PLN 214m for the first half of 2009, representing growth of 98.3% year-on-year. Subscription fees accounted for PLN191m of this, up by 118.7% year-on-year.

TVN as a whole reported consolidated net revenues of PLN1.015bn for the first half, up 6.7%. EBITDA was PLN392m, up 4.9%. However, operating profit fell by 6.7% to PLN313m.

Flagship channel TVN maintained its position as the leading Polish channel, and grew its share of the TV advertising market from 35.3% to 35.9%. However, advertising revenue decreased by 12.3% to PLN650m.