City of love

22 November 2018 By Liam Proud Follow @liamwardproud

Three tycoons and state-backed Orange are bleeding each other dry in a mobile price war that shareholders despise and consumers love. Something must give in 2019. A deal of some kind between Iliad and Bouygues makes sense, if billionaire owners can set aside their egos.

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Altice Europe said on Nov. 21 that it generated revenue of 3.4 billion euros in the third quarter of 2018, down 6.1 percent from the same period a year earlier. EBITDA of 1.3 billion euros was 10.4 percent lower, excluding the effects of currency movements.

Altice France’s sales were 2.5 billion euros, which was 5.5 percent lower than in the third quarter of 2017, excluding the effects of a one-off tax benefit related to newspaper-TV bundles.

EBITDA of 962 million euros in France was 12 percent lower year-on-year, and 2 percent less than analysts expected, according to company-supplied consensus estimates.

Patrick Drahi, Altice’s president and controlling shareholder, said on Nov. 21 that he is open to the idea of selling a stake in his French cable network.

Altice Europe’s A-shares, its biggest share class, were down 11.6 percent to 1.79 euros at 0930 GMT on Nov. 22.

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