Cosmote, the mobile telephony operator owned by Greek OTE, managed to grow its third quarter profit (EBITDA) in Romania by 26.6 percent year-on-year, to some EUR 29.3 million, the only profit rate among the countries where it also operates. Bulgaria, Albania and home country Greece all posted losses. An even higher increase rate came from the nine-month results. Romania brought Cosmote a profit of EUR 70 million, up 44 percent year-on-year. Again, it was the only market where Cosmote grew its profit.

Cosmote posted growth in revenues in Romania during the third quarter of the year as well. It reported sales of EUR 120.6 million, up 2.6 percent year-on-year. Its nine-month results showed a drop in revenues however: EUR 341 million, down 1.5 million. The third quarter revenues increase was the best result achieve on the sales front on all its markets, as OTE grew sales by 2.2 percent in Bulgaria, while Albania and its home country Greece brought a drop in sales: down 23.7 percent and 4.3 percent respectively.

As of the end of the third quarter, Cosmote’s total customer base in Romania reached 6.5 million, of which 22.8 percent was postpaid. “With service revenues up approximately 7 percent, Cosmote Romania retained its market share despite intense competition, notably in the prepaid segment,” writes OTE's report.

The increase in EBITDA met the company’s target and reflected the significant operating improvements following the successful integration of Zapp as well as savings in distribution and network expenses, the financial report also noted.

Get the full financial report here.

Corina Saceanu, corina@romania-insider.com