Bezeq net profit increased by 3% in 2nd Q and amounted to NIS 310 million - revenues to 2.23 billion

Bezeq Group closes the second quarter of 2022 with an adjusted net profit of NIS 310 million, a moderate increase of 3% compared to the corresponding quarter in 2021. Revenues were NIS 2.23 billion, a slight increase of 1.1%. Operating profit decreased by 1.3% to NIS 463 million and EBITDA also decreased by 1.4% to NIS 921 million.
The company's free flow increased significantly to NIS 359 million, compared to NIS 85 million in the corresponding quarter. Bezeq reduced the debt in the company by about one billion shekels and now it stands at 5.63 billion. Following the results, Bezeq recommended to the general meeting to distribute a semi-annual dividend of NIS 294 million (11 cents per share).
Bezeq Wired revenues increased by 2.4%, mainly due to growth in revenues from Internet services as well as from the cloud and digital. The income from Internet services climbed by 9.9%, while the income from telephony services decreased by 17.5%. The decrease is attributed to the reform in the field of the Ministry of Communications, under which the average monthly income per line dropped to NIS 41 instead of NIS 47 in the corresponding quarter.
Following the upgrade in the results of the cloud and digital services, as well as the data transmission services, the net profit of Bezeq Kvi Tzemach grew by 2% compared to the corresponding quarter, but the adjusted net profit, which reached NIS 247 million, remained almost unchanged (a decrease of 0.4%).
 The number of the company's internet subscribers decreased by 2,000 compared to the previous quarter. At the same time, Bezeq managed to recruit another 37 thousand subscribers to its fiber service, which raised the monthly income from an internet subscription to NIS 113, NIS 3 above the previous quarter.
"Growth in the number of Bezeq fiber subscribers is becoming a central task for the company, and this is to accelerate the growth in Internet revenues," said Ran Goraon, the company's CEO. Bezeq has already deployed fiber in 1.36 million households, and now wants to significantly increase the rate of fiber sales to start returning the investment. In order to do this, Bezeq recently lowered the installation price of home fiber from NIS 450 for an apartment to NIS 300, and from NIS 900 in a private home to NIS 600.
The fact that 3 large-scale fiber networks are now deployed allows other companies to rely less on Bezeq infrastructure, and continues to lower the number of its wholesale high-speed internet lines. In the current quarter, this figure decreased by 5,000 subscribers. During the coming year, the Ministry of Communications is expected to update the price at which Bezeq sells its fiber wholesale, as well as the price at which it sells the use of its pipes to deploy more communications infrastructure. This decision is expected to have a dramatic effect on market competition.
Pelephone recorded a three-year record in revenues and they reached NIS 446 million, an increase of 9% from the corresponding quarter last year. Pelephone's growth is due, among other things, to the increase in 5G packages and the number of subscribers. Revenues from the sale of end equipment decreased by 8.4%.
Pelephone concludes the quarter with a profit of 46 million shekels - the company managed to recruit another 53 thousand subscribers in the current quarter - the average monthly income per subscriber is 57 shekels, unchanged from the previous quarter.
Pelephone is in second place among the telecommunications companies in deploying 5G infrastructure, and erects antennas scattered throughout the country. However, even though the company is benefiting from the increase in revenues following the purchase of expensive 5th generation packages, at the moment the fifth generation in Israel is hardly noticeable to the customers of any of the companies due to the deployment situation.
yes company ends the second quarter with revenues of NIS 316 million, compared to NIS 315 million in the corresponding quarter. The EBIDA, on the other hand, decreased by 34% to NIS 44 million, and the net profit decreased from NIS 18 million in the corresponding quarter to NIS 2 million in the second quarter of 2022.
 The company's joining hands with Disney Plus (offering subscribers a free half-year of the streaming service) bore fruit and the company recruited another 3,600 TV subscribers. At the same time, due to customers switching to the cheaper TV package, the ARPU from the TV service (average revenue per user) decreased by 2 NIS to 184 NIS. The question is of course what data we will receive from yes in the longer term, after the benefit period of six months free at Disney ends. In the last quarter of 2022, competition on television is expected to increase significantly following the entry of Keshet and RGE's streaming company called FREETV, which intends to offer an application with Keshet content, and RGE's sports and children's content at a price of a few tens of shekels.
Bezeq International Company presented a decrease in revenues of 2.6% to NIS 302 million, and a decrease in EBITDA of 25% to NIS 46 million. This is not a big surprise, since last April the long-standing separation between infrastructure and provider was canceled, and at the same time Bezeq announced that it was canceling the plan to merge yes with Bezeq International. As a result, the group's mission in recent months was to transfer the customers who received Internet provider service from Bezeq International to Bezeq Cable itself. However, the company posted a net profit of 36% to 15 million shekels, and it continues to focus on cloud activities and server farms.