Bezeq group revenues for the first quarter of 2008 totaled NIS 3.1 billion, very similar to the figure for the parallel quarter in 2007, and net profits were identical in both first quarters - NIS 385 million.
Bezeq's landline operations continue to decline, for both calls and Internet use. Revenues from landline conversations were down by a marginal 2% compared to the first quarter last year, and totaled NIS 1.408 billion.
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Internet subscribership is also just treading water, with 7,000 new ADSL subscribers since the first quarter of 2007. In previous years Bezeq had added an average of 20,000 new subscribers per quarter. Average revenues per subscriber have also remained steady at NIS 58.10 per month, despite Bezeq efforts to upgrade customers' connection speed.
Bezeq lost a record 48,000 landline subscribers this past quarter - attributed mainly to the number mobility program. Revenues per landline subscriber are also continuing to slip, and now average NIS 84.90 per month, a decline of NIS 3.4 per customer per month.
The figures at Bezeq International were slightly better, with higher profits despite a 3% dip in revenues, from NIS 323 million in the first quarter of 2007, to NIS 314 million in the parallel this year. Company sources explain the decline is due to the weakening of the dollar and lower profitability for "hubbing" (international trade in minutes). Despite these setbacks, both operating profits and net profits improved, by 7% and 16% respectively, for a bottom line of NIS 42 million.
Yes satellite broadcasting continues to be a losing proposition, with a red-ink figure of NIS 65.8 million - 36% more than the company lost in the first quarter of last year. This negative result was most affected by higher financing costs, which grew from NIS 26.1 million in the first quarter of 2007 to NIS 41.2 million in the parallel this year. One bright note in Yes' financial results is an 8% increase in revenues, to NIS 381 million.
The past quarter was not good for multi-channel broadcasting in general, as neither HOT nor Yes managed to attract new subscribers. Yes increased revenues by improving the profitability per customer, mostly via the successful marketing of YesMAX devices. More than 120,000 Yes customers use the more expensive decoder/recorder.
Pelephone fared somewhat better, with revenues up 3%, to NIS 1.173 billion. Although the company managed to attract 13,000 new subscribers in the first quarter of 2008, the competition did better, with over 20,000 new subscribers each. Pelephone's per customer revenues declined from NIS 130 per month in the last quarter of 2007, to NIS 126 per month in the first quarter of 2008. This dip in per subscriber revenues is common to all the cellular companies, however, due to lower interconnection fees.
Net profits at Pelephone were up 6% over the parallel quarter last year, totaling NIS 163 million. Pelephone leads the market with 867,000 subscribers using 3G phones, and revenues from content - including text messaging services - accounting for 15% of revenues.
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