Unterfoehring, February 12, 2016- Kabel Deutschland Holding AG ('Kabel Deutschland', 'KDH' or 'the Company'), Germany's largest cable network operator, today released its consolidated financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2015 of fiscal year 2015/16 ending March 31, 2016.

Highlights for the third quarter ended December 31, 2015:

  • Internet RGUs grew by 96 thousand in the quarter. The Company now reports 2.9 million Internet RGUs.
  • Premium TV RGUs increased by 46 thousand net adds quarter on quarter to a total of 2.6 million Pay TV and DVR RGUs
  • Total blended ARPU per subscriber for the quarter reached €19.93 - up by €1.41 or 7.6% on the prior year's third quarter
  • Revenue grew by 6.8% year on year to €548 million
  • Adjusted EBITDA increased by 8.7% year on year to €257 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 46.8%
  • The Company spent 25.4% of revenues or €139 million on regular Capex, and €10 million on program Alpha. Operating free cash flow (adjusted EBITDA-Capex) amounted to €107 million
  • The Company posted a net profit of €66 million or €0.74 per share (versus a net profit of €73 million or €0.82 per share in the third quarter of last year)

Highlights for the nine months ended December 31, 2015:

  • Revenue increased by 7.1% to €1,610 million from €1,504 million in the first nine months of the previous year
  • Adjusted EBITDA grew by 7.8% to €761 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 47.2%
  • Regular Capex decreased to €396 million (versus €400 million in the previous year's first nine months). In addition, the Company spent €39 million on program Alpha, overall representing a Capex to sales ratio of 27.0% in the first nine months (versus 33.3% in the first nine months of last fiscal year)
  • Operating free cash flow amounted to €326 million (previous year: €205 million)
  • The Company posted a net profit of €213 million for the nine months ended December 31, 2015 (versus a net profit of €187 million in the same period last fiscal year), representing an EPS of €2.40 (versus €2.11 last fiscal year)

Operational Performance

In the third quarter of fiscal year 2015/16, Kabel Deutschland recorded 96 thousand net additions in its Internet business. This includes managed migrations from Vodafone DSL of approximately 16 thousand. Over the last twelve months, the Company added 419 thousand Internet RGUs and reports a total RGU base of 2,924 thousand as of December 31, 2015. The total blended Internet & Phone ARPU increased by €0.20 versus the second quarter and amounted to €27.19.

In Premium TV, Kabel Deutschland recorded 46 thousand RGU net additions in the third quarter of fiscal year 2015/16, reaching 2,648 thousand as of December 31, 2015. HD Private increased to 2,246 thousand activated smartcards (versus 1,991 thousand one year earlier). As a result of a better product mix and growing Premium TV penetration, the total blended TV ARPU per subscriber improved to €11.25 in the third quarter.

Kabel Deutschland's direct subscriber base expanded to 7.8 million (103 thousand net adds year on year) out of a total of 8.4 million unique subscribers. The overall RGU base increased by 845 thousand or 5.4% from the previous year to 16.4 million at the end of December 2015. Due to the increasing penetration of our growth business activities, the RGU per subscriber ratio climbed to 1.97 (1.87 one year ago) and the total blended ARPU per subscriber increased to €19.93, up by €1.41 or 7.6% year on year.

Financial Results for third quarter ended December 31, 2015

Kabel Deutschland achieved revenue growth of 6.8% year on year to €548 million. TV Business revenue increased by 0.6% to €297 million while Internet & Phone Business revenue grew strongly by 15.2% to €252 million.

Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter amounted to €257 million compared to €236 million one year earlier (up 8.7%) with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 46.8% (46.0% in the third quarter of fiscal year 2014/15).

To support subscriber growth and network enhancements the Company spent €150 million on Capex with €139 million or 25.4% of revenues on regular Capex and €10 million or 1.9% on program Alpha. €87 million or 62% of the regular Capex was success-based.

Kabel Deutschland generated €107 million of operating free cash flow, which translates into an operating free cash flow margin of 19.5%.

The Company posted a net profit of €66 million, representing earnings per share of €0.74 (net profit of €73 million and EPS of €0.82 in the third quarter of last fiscal year).

Business Outlook

Based on further expanding its Internet & Phone customer base as well as upselling its Premium TV products with a strong foundation in the TV distribution market, Kabel Deutschland is well positioned to achieve continued growth. The Management Board of Kabel Deutschland announced the following guidance for the current fiscal year 2015/16 on May 18, 2015:

  • Mid to high single-digit revenue growth compared to fiscal year 2014/15
  • Mid to high single-digit adjusted EBITDA growth compared to fiscal year 2014/15 (applying same adjustment items as in previous years)
  • Adjusted EBITDA minus Capex to increase to over €300 million (from €236 million in fiscal year 2014/15)
  • Shareholder remuneration will be independent of operating performance as a consequence of the domination and profit and loss transfer agreement, which provides for a recurring compensation payment per share of €3.77 gross (€3.17 net based on current taxation), paid for the first time after the Annual General Meeting in October 2015.

Recent Developments

  • On December 3, 2015, Deutsche Börse announced that effective December 21, 2015, shares of Kabel Deutschland Holding AG were no longer included in the MDAX stock index.

Additional Information

The full financial report for the first nine months and third quarter ended December 31, 2015 of fiscal year 2015/16 ending March 31, 2016 is available for download on the website at HUwww.kabeldeutschland.comUH. This financial report includes, amongst others, the consolidated statement of financial position as of December 31, 2015 and March 31, 2015, the consolidated statement of income for the periods from April 1, 2015, and October 1 to December 31, 2015 (and the respective prior year periods) and the consolidated statement of cash flows for the period from April 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015 (and the respective prior year period).

The financials for Kabel Deutschland Holding AG's fiscal year ending March 31, 2016 will be released on May 25, 2016.

Kabel Deutschland Holding AG issued this content on 12 February 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 12 February 2016 07:06:17 UTC

Original Document: http://www.kabeldeutschland.com/en/investor-relations/nachrichten/160212.html