HOT concludes the second quarter with a 3.7% increase in revenues from services: NIS 774 million

The communications company HOT concludes the second quarter of 2020 with stability in revenues and EBITDA, on the basis of local currency, according to reports published tonight (Thursday) by Altice Europe's company Altice Europe, which controls HOT.
EBITDA (profit before taxes, interest and depreciation) increased by 1.5% compared to the corresponding quarter and stood at NIS 369 million - this figure also includes TAT, the company of Altis' technicians in Israel, "in light of savings in general management costs and expenses sales and marketing". The company's revenues amounted to NIS 950 million, an increase of 0.1% compared with the corresponding quarter. The company reports a decrease of about 16% in revenues from end equipment (such as mobile devices) which stood at about NIS 56 million, in light of the slowdown and closure of shopping centers and malls due to the Corona crisis.
On the other hand, the company reports a 3.7% increase in revenues from services that amounted to NIS 774 million, despite the damage to roaming services (overseas packages) and domestic tourism due to the closure of borders due to the Corona crisis. Revenues from fixed services (TV, Internet and telephone) NIS 564 million, an increase of about 3.7% compared to the second quarter of 2019, in light of "an increase in the use of communication services during the Corona period." Revenues from cellular services (HOT Mobile) amounted to NIS 209 million, an increase of about 5% compared to the period Revenues from businesses amounted to NIS 120 million, a decrease of 12% compared to the corresponding quarter, partly in light of the consequences of the corona virus.
The company's investments, together with TAT, amounted to NIS 260 million in the quarter, an increase of about 7.2% compared to the corresponding quarter last year "in light of the upgrade of Internet equipment". The cash flow from operating activities decreased by about 10% and amounted to about NIS 109 million compared to the corresponding period.
This is the sixth consecutive quarter that the company has reported an increase in the number of stationary subscribers. During the quarter, the company recruited 7,000 net customers, so that their number ended up at 1.036 million. This is a slowdown in the rate of subscriptions, since in the previous quarter the company recruited 14,000 subscribers and in the previous quarter it recruited 7,000 subscribers. It should be taken into account that a customer who joins certain of the company's mobile routes, which also include Next TV's mobile VOD app, the company's internet and discounted TV service - will also be counted as a customer in the fixed sector. The company reports that to date, about 40,000 customers have joined the 500-megabyte Internet service, compared with 32,000 customers in the previous quarter.
The number of mobile subscribers decreased in the second quarter after six quarters of continuous growth, during which the company lost 9,000 net customers, so that in the end their number was 1.346 million subscribers. The loss is caused by the prepaid sector (prepaid ticket), which was damaged in light of the tourist stop, since in the private sector the company recruited 5,000 customers. HOT Mobile maintains fourth place in Israel in terms of market share with about 15% of all cellular subscribers in Israel.
With the onset of the corona crisis, HOT decided that none of the company's 1,400 employees went to the IDF, but each employee was required to take three days off from the annual quota. Since the cable company ceased trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in September 2018, it has not reported results. The company does not separate the areas in the fixed sector and does not separate retail and wholesale customers.