Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were down by 2% to EUR 154.2m and operating profit dropped by 10% to EUR 31.8m, shows a report released via the Ljubljana Stock Exchange on Thursday.

The company attributed the growth in sales revenue mainly to higher revenue from IT services and higher wholesale market revenue.

Compared with the end of 2016, the telecommunications group saw a 7% increase in the number of fixed broadband connections to 368,800 and a 4% rise in the number of mobile phone connections to 1.8m, of which 1.1m in Slovenia (down 5%).

The number of fixed-line telephony connections (VoIP services included) was flat at 558,800.

The core company increased net sales revenue by 3% to EUR 489.9m as net profit rose 7% year-on-year to EUR 33.2m, while EBITDA decreased by 2% to EUR 130.8m and EBIT fell by 6% to EUR 30.3m.

The group earmarked EUR 90.2m for investment in the first three quarters of the year, 3% less than in the same period last year. The core company Telekom Slovenije accounted for EUR 79.4m, down 7%.

The bulk of investment was to expand the fibre optic access network, further modernise the mobile network and develop new services. The core company began upgrading the fourth generation mobile network with 4G+ technology, which it now provides to 35% of the population.