The Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) group has reported revenue of NIS 2.02 billion for the second quarter of 2021, 2.1% more than in the corresponding quarter of 2020. Group revenue improved thanks to the performance of mobile carrier Pelephone, which benefitted from the return of roaming fees, as overseas travel opened up again.
Net profit in the second quarter of this year was NIS 294 million, 9.3% higher than in the corresponding quarter. Adjusted net profit was NIS 304 million, up 20.6% in comparison with the corresponding quarter, mainly thanks to a drop in financing expenses for Bezeq fixed line because of an early repayment fee paid in the corresponding quarter.
Revenue from Bezeq's fixed line service fell only slightly in comparison with the corresponding quarter, despite an 11.2% drop in revenue from telephony, thanks to substantial growth in revenue from transmission, cloud and digital services. In the second quarter of 2020, revenue from fixed-line telephony services actually grew because of the coronavirus pandemic, but following the opening up of the Israeli economy it resumed its downward trend. The company also lost revenue as a result of a fall in tariffs in the wholesale market and a continuing switch by Internet customers using copper wire connections to Bezeq's competitors.
The company reports growth in revenue from business customers. Revenue from transmission and data communications services rose 10%, and revenue from cloud and digital services rose 8.6%.
At the end of the second quarter, some 718,000 had access to Bezeq's optic fiber network. The company says that it will almost certainly surpass the one million households it promised would be connected to the network by the end of the year.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on August 12, 2021
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