OTE third quarter falls on weaker wholesale, Romania

Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA

09/11/2023 09:13

ATHENS, Nov 9 (Reuters) - OTE Telecom  OTEr.AT ,
Greece's biggest telecoms operator, posted on Thursday a 1.5%
drop in core earnings for the third quarter on lower revenues
from wholesale services and weaker Romanian business.
    Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation
came in at 352.6 million euros ($377.35 million).
    Its Romanian business was hurt by mobile termination rate
cuts and higher energy costs, it said.
    For the full year, EBITDA growth from Greek operations,
which account for most of the group's profit, is seen reaching
the level achieved in the nine months to September, when it
increased by 1.1% year-on-year to 988.5 million euros, helped by
containing staff and energy expenses.
    OTE has contracted a large part of its energy supplies for
2024, although at higher prices compared to its previous
contract, it said.
    Despite higher borrowing costs, inflation and energy price
risks which might hurt consumer spending, OTE said it was
benefiting from ongoing investment in advanced network
infrastructure, including 5G technology and fast broadband.


($1 = 0.9344 euros)

 (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou
Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
 ((angeliki.koutantou@thomsonreuters.com; +30 2102214608;
Reuters Messaging: angeliki.koutantou.reuters.com@reuters.net))