Com Hem’s revenue climbs 8.1% in Q2

Sweden’s leading cableco Com Hem has reported 8.1% year-on-year growth in consolidated second-quarter turnover, boosted by the inclusion of recently purchased Phonera’s B2B operations from the start of April, and posting total revenue of SEK1.198 billion (USD176 million), while consumer revenue increased by 2%. Underlying EBITDA was SEK566 million in April-June 2014, an increase of 3.5% versus Q2 2013, while quarterly net loss was SEK718 million – wider than the SEK279 million net loss posted twelve months earlier due to one-off costs of SEK680 million associated with Com Hem’s initial public offering (IPO) and debt refinancing. Broadband internet customer growth continued, reaching 577,000 users at 30 June 2014, up from 544,000 a year earlier, and digital TV operations returned to subscriber growth, helped by the company reaching 103,000 users of its enhanced, multi-screen TiVo-based platform (or 17.1% of its TV customer base).