Altice Europe third quarter results beat expectations on French growth
PARIS (Reuters) - Altice Europe <ATCA.AS>, the debt-ridden telecoms and cable group controlled by Franco-Israeli tycoon Patrick Drahi, reported better-than-expected third-quarter results on Wednesday, driven by the turnaround of its French subsidiary.
Group revenue over the period grew by 6.3% on a comparable basis from a year ago to 3.67 billion euros (£3.16 billion), while core operating profits advanced by 8.2% to 1.41 billion euros.
Analysts had expected on average a sales growth of 5.8% for the period and an increase of 7.3% in adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), according to consensus figures distributed by the company.
Altice Europe's <ATCA.AS> French division, which accounts for more than a third of group sales, said it added 41,000 new broadband customers as well as 234,000 mobile customers.
The Netherlands-based holding confirmed its full-year targets, including a free cash flow growth of around 15%, excluding the TV division.
(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain, Editing by Sarah White)