Benzinga | May 26, 2021 07:30AM EDT

Partner Communications Clocks Mixed Q1 Earnings

* Partner Communications Co Ltd (NASDAQ: PTNR) reported first-quarter FY21 revenue growth of 3% year-on-year to $250 million.

* Service revenue rose 2% Y/Y to $192 million, and Equipment revenue rose 9% Y/Y to $58 million.

* Service revenues for the cellular segment declined 2% Y/Y to $124 million, and the fixed-line segment rose 6% Y/Y to $78 million.

* Cellular ARPU declined 9% Y/Y to $14; Cellular Subscriber Base rose 8% Y/Y to 2.90 million. The Cellular Churn Rate fell 70 basis points to 6.8%.

* Fiber-Optic Subscriber Base rose 78.2% Y/Y to 155 thousand subscribers, Homes Connected (HC) to Partner's Fiber-Optic Infrastructure rose 42.4% Y/Y to 514 thousand. Infrastructure-Based Internet Subscriber Base rose 20.6% Y/Y to 339 thousand subscribers, and TV Subscriber Base rose 17% Y/Y to 234 thousand subscribers.

* The gross margin contracted 179 basis points to 17%, and the operating margin contracted 110 basis points to 3.4%.

* EPS was $0.01.

* Adjusted EBITDA margin contracted 200 basis points to 25%.

* Partner Communications generated $62 million from operating cash flow and held $237 million in cash and equivalents.

* Price action: PTNR shares closed at $4.8 on Tuesday.