Venezuela's Cantv Q3 Earnings off 27% at US$159mn

Venezuelan state-owned incumbent Cantv posted net profits of 341bn bolivares (US$159mn) for the third quarter of 2007, down 26.6% compared to the year-ago period, according to the company's latest earnings statement.

Cantv's revenues for 3Q07 totaled 2.08tn bolívares, an increase of 19.5% on the same period in 2006.

Revenues from the fixed line business were 739bn bolivares, including 241bn bolivares from local telephony, up 6.8% year-on-year. Domestic long distance revenues were up 10.8% at 79.1bn bolivares, but international long distance revenues were down 7%.

Revenues from mobile telephony totaled 1.04tn bolivares, a 28.3% increase on 3Q06. Broadband revenues were up 37% year-on-year at 303bn bolívares.

During Q3, mobile telephony accounted for 50% of the company's revenues, fixed line telephony contributed 35.5% and broadband represented 14.5%.

The mobile unit Movilnet ended the quarter with 8.9mn active lines, an increase of 32.5% on the same time last year. Meanwhile, mobile traffic rose 43.8% compared to the same period last year.

In the broadband segment, the company end 3Q07 with 691,600 subscribers, up 63.7% compared to end-3Q06.

Cantv ended the quarter with 3.9mn fixed lines in service, 21.1% more than the same time in 2006.

The company's capex for the first nine months of 2007 totaled 998bn bolivares. Investment was mainly directed at expanding the company's GSM network and broadband infrastructure nationwide. The company also invested in next generation networks and in the expansion of the fixed line network.

Posted to the site on 8th November 2007