Israel's Bezeq Telecom quarterly profit rises on fibre network gains
TEL AVIV:
Bezeq Israel Telecom
reported a 7% rise in first-quarter profit on Tuesday, as it continues to benefit from growth in its
fibre optics network
.
Bezeq, Israel's largest telecoms group, said it earned 319 million shekels ($91 million) excluding one-time items in the January to March period, up from 299 million a year earlier. Revenue dipped 0.9% to 2.2 billion shekels.
In its core fixed line business excluding home phone services, revenue grew 2.6% on a 36% gain in the number of more lucrative
fibre subscribers
to 885,000.
Similarly, its mobile unit
Pelephone
showed an 18% rise in
5G subscribers
, with the firm posting its highest quarterly revenue in seven years that was also helped by higher income from roaming.
Bezeq last week raised its adjusted net profit expectation for 2025 to 1.32 billion shekels from 1.2 billion, while maintaining a forecast that deployment of its fibre-optics network would reach 2.9 million homes this year - up from 2.7 million currently.
Chairman Tomer Raved said Bezeq is near the end of a five-year investment cycle and will complete its nationwide fibre rollout in the coming months.
"These investments will enable Israel to implement a major national transformation as we enter the AI era across the private, business, and governmental sectors," he said.
In 2024, adjusted net profit fell 4.7% to 1.27 billion shekels.
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