Danish telco TDC, the country’s leading operator in terms of subscribers, has published its financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2019, reporting a 1.4% decline in revenues year-on-year to DKK8.545 billion (USD1.27 billion), from DKK8.663 billion in H1 2018. Adjusted for the impact from acquisitions/divestments and costs related to the separation of TDC, organic revenue decreased by 2.0%, due mainly to a decline in landline voice and other service revenues, which was partly offset by growth in mobility services. Meanwhile, EBITDA decreased by 2.9% in the period under review, from DKK3.468 billion to DKK3.369 billion, while gross profit totalled DKK6.182 billion (down 1.7% y-o-y). Profit for the period also decreased, to DKK41 million (down 92.8% y-o-y), while capital expenditures were up 26.7% y-o-y to DKK2.106 billion, due to increased investments in upgrading the mobile network in preparation for 5G and the swap to Ericsson equipment, and TDC NetCo’s fibre rollout. As a part of TDC’s long-term fibre deployment plan, TDC NetCo and Nordkysten have established a joint venture (Fiberkysten), which will start rolling out fibre in Q3 2019.
The operator has also updated its 2019 guidance, highlighting that it now expects a low single-digit decline in organic EBITDA, DKK300 million-DKK400 million in costs related to the separation of TDC, and CAPEX of DKK4.4 billion-DKK4.8 billion (updated from DKK4.1 billion-DKK4.5 billion).