Veon reported first-quarter revenues of DZD 22.8 billion for its Algerian subsidiary Djezzy, down 1.3 percent year-on-year. This compares with the 4.5 percent drop in underlying revenues posted in Q4 2018, confirming the progressive improvement in performance that started in early 2018. Underlying EBITDA declined by 7.3 percent to DZD 9.6 billion, reflecting lower revenues, increased taxation, higher investment and additional channel incentives. On a reported basis, the EBITDA result was up 1.8 percent due to the positive impact of IFRS 16 adoption.
The challenging macro-economic environment and ongoing market competition continued to impact the ARPU trend (-5.8% from -7.4% in Q4). At the same time, the more aggressive data pricing strategy implemented since early 2018 supported ongoing customer gains, with overall subscriptions up 4.5 percent year-on-year to 16.01 million. Net additions were broadly stable quarter-on-quarter (193,000 from 198,000 in Q4), despite a slight rise in churn (12.2% from 11.7% in Q4).
As of March, Djezzy's 3G services were available to approximately 74 percent of the Algerian population, across the country's 48 provinces (or wilayas). LTE population coverage was close to 27 percent, with the footprint reaching 28 provinces.