HOT Telecommunication Systems Ltd. (TASE: HOT) is losing TV subscribers but gaining mobile phone customers, the company reported in its fourth quarter and full year 2014 financials today. Hot ended 2014 with 853,000 cable TV subscribers, a net loss of 22 subscribers over the year. The company was also down 33,000 Internet subscribers over the year to 713,000, and down 5,000 landline subscribers to 671,000. However, Hot was up 164,000 mobile phone subscribers to 974,000 at the end of 2014, through its HOT Mobile Ltd. unit.
Hot, controlled by French-Israeli billionaire Patrick Darhi, reported a NIS 216 million net profit in full-year 2014 compared with a NIS 62 million loss in 2013. Revenue fell from NIS 4.2 billion in 2013 to NIS 4.05 billion last year.
Revenue from cable TV fell 4% to NIS 3.23 billion in 2014 from NIS 3.35 billion in 2013. Revenue from mobile phone services fell to NIS 746 million in 2014 from NIS 755 million the previous year.
Hot made a net profit of NIS 51 million in the fourth quarter compared with a net loss of NIS 179 million in the corresponding quarter of 2013. Revenue fell 5% in the fourth quarter to NIS 998 million from NIS 1.05 billion in the corresponding quarter.
Hot CEO Ilan Tzahi said, "The substantial investment in customer service in the last quarter is already yielding results and I've no doubt that the positive trend in this sector will continue in the coming months."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 5, 2015
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