Telecom's growth in the Internet segment was 1.9% compared to the previous quarter and 0.7% compared to September 2019, according to the latest balance sheet for Q3-2020.
In its consolidated operation, it registered 3.6 million cable TV subscribers, 69,000 more than in the Q2, but in Argentina's mobile business it closed September with 18.7 million customers, which means that it lost 150 thousand compared to the second quarter of the year.
Consolidated sales in the Q3 reached $ 67,022 million, in figures adjusted for inflation, 7.6% less than in the same period of 2019.
Income before depreciation and amortization rounded $ 22,940 million between July and September, 3.5% below the Q3-2019.
In the aforementioned section, the net loss was $ 3,360 million, 87.9% lower than the number for Q3-2019.
For the company, the most relevant event of the period was the publication of DNU 690 with which the government declared ICT services as essential public in competition, froze rates until the end of the year and established the mandatory nature of a basic service for the low income population.
It also pointed out the incidence of refinancing their loans with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank and with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Nine months. Between January and September, consolidated sales reached $ 208,220 million. Sales of services produced $ 197,044 million, 3.6% less than in the accumulated of 2019.
The EBITDA in this section was $ 74,455 million, 2.4% higher than in the same period in 2019. The operating profit was $ 19,393 million, 1.4% less in the year-on-year comparison.
The net loss was $ 1,249 million in the first nine months of the year (-92.8% vs. the 9 months of 2019), which was associated with “the lower impact of exchange rate differences in a context of lower real devaluation to the one that occurred during the same period of the previous year, and a lower Income Tax charge.”
Investments (including additions for right of use) amounted to $ 40,699 million, 19.5% of consolidated sales. And the net financial debt was $ 132,450 million through September, 8% less year-on-year in real terms.
The company clarified that the results contain the year-on-year effect of inflation through September 2020 of the order of 36.6%.
Preparing for 2021. Cablevisión launched its 1000 Mbps speed offers for the residential market in AMBA in October and in November Flow Now its OTT subscription service (without the need for a decoder).