Altice International - comment

Management may state that Altice International is a “completely different entity" to Altice SFR and they look forward to “normalised trading levels”. The reality is the stench from SFR continues to pollute the International debt stack.  This is not helped by the €390m dividend to Altice Luxembourg which occurred in Q1.  We acknowledge this is in line with prior years, and leverage is expected to return to 4.0-4.5x by year-end from the confirmed guidance of €1bn Operating FCF, but the dividend reiterates that shareholders’ interest has priority over creditors.  

Operationally there was pluses and minuses but overall in line with guidance.  On asset disposals, the process continues in relation to its Portuguese and TEADS operations, but the Company has abandoned the sales process of its Dominican Republic operations due to price.