( AFP / ERIC PIERMONT )
Altice France, parent company of the telecoms operator SFR, saw its turnover decline in the third quarter, weighed down by falling mobile revenues.
Its sales thus fell by 4.7% over one year, to 2.5 billion euros, while its gross operating surplus (Ebitda) fell by 9.9%, to 879 million euros. .
Having fallen below 20 million mobile subscribers in the second quarter, the operator had only 19.5 million at the end of September. Its revenues in this area fell by 4.4%, to 902 million euros.
The debt of the group owned by billionaire Patrick Drahi, which has become a thorny subject, reached 24.3 billion euros at the end of the summer but should fall to 23.7 billion, taking into account the sale finalized in mid-November of its shares in La Poste Mobile to Bouygues Telecom.
In July, Altice had already sold its Altice Media branch (parent company of BFMTV and RMC) to the shipowner CMA-CGM, for the sum of 1.51 billion euros.
The group, which had made its debt reduction one of its objectives for the 2024 financial year, announced in mid-November that it had entered into negotiations with its creditors by proposing a payment of 2.6 billion euros to restructure the debt.
For its part, Altice International, the subsidiary bringing together activities in Portugal, Israel and the Dominican Republic, saw its turnover drop by 2.1%, to 1.1 billion euros, in the third quarter.
Its revenues fell in particular in Israel (-7.8%) where, due to the conflict in which the country has been engaged for more than a year, activities “were affected by a drop in revenues on the fixed line market ( …) and mobile,” the group said in a press release.
Its annual financial objectives have been revised slightly downwards, with a forecast of free cash flow of 800 million euros, instead of the 850 million announced in the second quarter.
Alongside its financial difficulties, Altice has also been shaken for more than a year by a corruption scandal, which notably involves Armando Pereira, former manager of the Portuguese subsidiary and co-founder of the group.
Indicted in Portugal, he is suspected of having set up a network of dubious suppliers with the aim of diverting large sums of money via the group's purchasing policy, which he disputes.
An investigation was also opened in France.
