Freenet AG Reports Dynamic Growth in IPTV Customers for Q1 2024

freenet AG announced significant growth in IPTV customers and a solid financial performance for the first quarter of 2024. The German telecommunications company reported a substantial increase in its subscriber base, particularly in its waipu.tv service, which added 138.6 thousand net new subscribers, pushing the total subscriber count to approximately 9.6 million. This growth nears the 10 million subscriber milestone.

Despite stable group revenues of EUR 638.9 million, a minor decline from the previous year's EUR 637.8 million, EBITDA reduced slightly by 3.0% year-over-year to EUR 124.2 million, attributed to increased investment in brand and personnel costs. Remarkably, freenet managed to increase its free cash flow by 10.3% to EUR 71.3 million, benefiting from reduced net CapEx.

The company also signaled a strategic shift by discontinuing operations at Gravis, one of Germany's largest Apple resellers, responding to aggressive pricing strategies by Apple. This decision aligns with focusing on more profitable business areas. Moreover, the Executive Board reconfirmed its financial guidance for 2024, expecting an EBITDA between EUR 495 million and EUR 515 million and a free cash flow of EUR 260 million to EUR 280 million.

Overall, freenet’s initial 2024 performance aligns with its strategic expectations for a transition year, with optimism towards continued growth in service revenues and an expanded customer base, particularly in IPTV services.