By Stuart Thomson

Greek pay TV operator Forthnet, now wholly owned by Serbia-based United Group, saw its overall subscription base dip slightly in 2020 despite a rise in total retail and wholesale pay TV numbers, but with pay TV revenues falling by 11 per cent.

Total subscriptions dipped by 2.7 per cent in the year to December, ending at 868,823, based on 653,487 unique household subscribers.

Pay TV subscribers, including wholesale subs, rose by 1.4 per cent to 463,494.

Broadband and phone subscribers were down slightly to 550,194, with next-generation broadband subs rising by 37.6 per cent to 108,737.

Overall revenues stood at €276.4 million, up 5.2 per cent, mainly due to agreement with suppliers to settle outstanding liabilities from previous years. EBITDA was also pushed up by the ‘other revenues’ category, rising from €37.1 million9US$44.59million) in 2019 to €55.6 million.

Pay TV revenues were down by 11.2 per cent to €67.4 million, with telco revenues flat at €103.5 billion.

“2020 it was a landmark year for Forthnet. Through the purchase of the banks’ exposures, United Group, the leading pay TV and telco operator in S.E. Europe, acquired control of Forthnet. The process is expected to be completed within May, as a result of the Company restructuring,” said the new CEO of Forthnet, Panayotis Georgopoulos who took up his post in March.

“Nonetheless, 2020 was a challenging year, as the COVID-19 pandemic-related lockdowns affected the activities of the Company customers, partners and suppliers. Forthnet, with the support of its shareholders, and, most importantly, of its employees, managed to overcome these obstacles, mitigating the impact of the pandemic on its performance.

“Personally, I am honoured to join the United Group team and drive Forthnet into this new era. We are confident that our sole focus on improving customer experience, centred around innovative services and technologies, will deliver great value to Greek consumers and businesses.”