SAO PAULO--Brazilian phone company GVT saw revenues surge in the
first half of the year, although it has reduced its overall
forecast for revenue growth this year.
The firm said it expects revenue growth of 30% this year,
slightly lower than the 35% it had originally expected, without
providing reasons. GVT--a unit of France's Vivendi SA
(VIV.FR)--expects to maintain its Ebitda margin slightly above 40%,
compared with around 40% previously.
Economic growth in Brazil has slowed far more sharply than had
been expected this year, and isn't expected to top 2%, and some
telecoms firms have already said this will affect revenue growth.
At the beginning of the year, many economists had expected growth
of around 4%.
GVT said in a statement that revenues totaled 2.05 billion
Brazilian reais ($1 billion) in the first half of the year, up
31.4% from a year earlier. Excluding a change in the ICMS tax the
revenues would have been 42% higher, GVT said. Ebitda margin was
40.6%, down from 41.8%.
Broadband internet revenues rose 22.4%, while voice revenues
rose 32.4%, it said. Lines in service reached 7.4 million, up 41%
on the year, it said.
Customers are opting for faster Internet speeds, according to
the report. Sales of connections with speeds of 15 megabytes or
more represented 41% of sales, compared with 24% in the same period
of 2011, it said.
GVT said it has signed up 203,000 pay-TV customers as of June
30, and accounted for 11% of all pay-TV sales in Brazil in the
second quarter.
Write to Matthew Cowley at matthew.cowley@dowjones.com
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