Michael Klahr's questions to PARTNER COMMUNICATIONS CO (PTNRF) leadership • Q1 2017
Question
Michael Klahr of Citigroup asked for a breakdown of the significant reduction in operating costs, seeking to understand how much of the decline was sustainable versus seasonal or related to one-time rebranding efforts. He also questioned revenue trends in both mobile (competition, subscriber mix between Partner and 012 brands) and fixed-line (drivers of decline).
Answer
CFO David Mizrahi attributed the cost reduction primarily to sustainable efficiency measures, with a smaller portion due to seasonality, and emphasized management's ongoing focus on cost control. CEO Isaac Benbenisti added that the completed merger of the 012 and Partner brands into a single call center and database created major efficiencies. On revenue, Mizrahi noted stabilizing ARPU in mobile and declining ILD/ISP revenues in fixed-line, but declined to disclose the subscriber mix between brands.