Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Our Second Quarter Results Call. I will guide you through the slides and the information, and we'll have a discussion afterwards. We had a great quarter with our sales growing 13% year-on-year, RGUs increasing 16%, and EBITDA growth was 24% during this year. As you see, across all indicators, we have had just an outstanding performance. The biggest growth certainly comes from Spain. It was in absolute terms, but also in relative terms, Spain grew by 34% during the period, primarily helped by growth in our mobile customers, but also by expansion in our broadband and fixed telephony users.
We, we move to the next slide, basically, this is just a broad outline of our focus for this year. We continue to grow RGUs in Romania and Spain, to maintain the market share expansion that we enjoyed in the past periods. As I already mentioned, we have very strong commercial momentum in Spain, but also in Romania, especially in the mobile segment. Both mobile sectors for Romania and Spain have grown by 19%, respectively 25%, during this period. In terms of investments, in terms of long-term development, we continue focusing on our network expansion. In Romania, it's mostly mobile that we focus on, because as we were discussing in the previous discussions, in the previous calls, our fixed network is meaningfully completed.
The expansion that is happening there is limited at the moment, but we still have projects to complete on the mobile side to one, it's related to the further smaller increase of footprint, but also enabling the frequencies that we acquired recently at the end of 2022, but also 2021, to expand the spectrum portfolio that we have and that we operate at the moment. In Spain, we continue developing the fixed infrastructure, and in Portugal, we are quite busy in setting up both our mobile and our fixed networks with the aim, as we were discussing earlier, to launch services in early 2024. We rely on our cooperation with Cellnex to happen, for this to happen rather sooner than later.
We're also busy, as I said, I repeat myself, in building out the fiber optic networks. Back to the numbers. Sales of EUR 414 million just in the quarter. With Romania at over EUR 250 million, Spain EUR 156 million, and Italy, EUR 7 million. EBITDA in Romania amounted to EUR 101 million, basically a 40% EBITDA margin. This is, just to remind, EBITDA excluding IFRS 16 numbers. Spain amounted close to EUR 25 million in EBITDA in the quarter, 60% margin, and our overall result was EUR 125 for the entire group.
RGUs reached 22.4 million units, helped by growth in Spain and in Romania during the period. Diving more into the numbers, basically, you see a 13% growth in terms of revenues. You see 21% growth for adjusted EBITDA, including IFRS 16 numbers, and 24% growth for EBITDA, excluding IFRS 16, as we mentioned a bit earlier. CapEx for the period amounted to EUR 266 million, which is significantly higher than what we had a year before, EUR 140 million, and in the quarter before, which was close to EUR 160 million.
This almost EUR 100 million difference comes from the ECA financing that we arranged in the second quarter, whereby we used export credit agencies of Finland and Sweden to finance the acquisition and rollout of Ericsson and Nokia equipment in this case, both in Romania and Portugal. I explain this number in a bit more detail, just to give you a context and a reference of this higher CapEx number, because without... I mean, it, there's a particularity about the CapEx in this case, because we used the ECA financing. The number was abnormally higher, but for a short period of time, without recurrence.
We expect the third quarter CapEx to come back to, let's say, more normal levels of around EUR 150 million or less. Same for the fourth quarter numbers. Once again, if I were to call this normalized CapEx or CapEx without ECA financing, we've expected to be around EUR 600 million for the rest of the year. While together with the ECA financing, it will be probably in the EUR 720 million-EUR 730 million range. Yeah, apart from this, apart from this, focusing and trying to explain the CapEx number, I think we had an outstanding quarter again, with growth across all benchmarks.
Certainly, we were helped by the Spanish growth, we were helped by the continuous Romanian growth, despite both the fact that the market is established and mature, but also we are pretty happy with the EBITDA evolution, despite the inflationary pressure, which basically affects all of us, all, all operators in our market, but also most other companies in other sectors of the economy. Yeah, moving on. You see the our customer numbers. So as I mentioned, we've surpassed 22.4 million RGUs in our markets, a 16% growth.
Again, mobile is the highest segment, both in terms of the absolute number of users, but also in terms of the growth speed, having increased by 21%, again being helped primarily by our Spanish operations. Although Romania is not very far, not very distant from Spain, I mean, from this almost 2 million users added in the last one year, we are pretty close to each other, Spain and Romania. Looking overall at the profile of the customers, Romania is still far ahead with 16.3 million RGUs, and Spain has an impressive almost 5.8 million RGUs at the end of second quarter.
All in all, we're extremely happy with the performance and with the achievements, both in Spanish and in the Romanian market. Just to prove the numbers we were discussing earlier, we are the leading operator with both in Romania and Spain, in terms of number portability. Romania, mobile number portability amounted to 464,000 RGUs in the first half of 2023. In Spain, this number was almost 600,000. Sorry, it was both mobile and fixed number. If we were to compare apples to apples, the number for Romania would be around 480,000.
A big plus for our Spanish colleagues, who have performed very well, both in their market, but also did better than we here in Romania. Again, these numbers are very meaningful to us. They reflect the confidence of our users in our services, and also they show the health of our growth because number portability is a very good... I mean, the quality of the customers that you get through portability is very, very high.
I will move on to the financing, to the financial profile, and you see that we ended the quarter at EUR 1.45 billion in gross debt, EUR 200 million in cash, and EUR 1.25 billion in net debt, with a leverage ratio of 2.7 times net leverage ratio. You see, on the right-hand side, in the top corner, that our repayments for this year are minimal, at around EUR 17 million. They're somewhat higher, at EUR 193 million in next year. Of course, we have the bonds tranche coming due in February 2025, at EUR 450 million. I think we are almost done with the fixed part of the formal part of the presentation.
Just the last announcement, on Friday, later this week, we will hold the annual general meeting of shareholders, approving 2022 report and results. I think, yeah, probably an important element of the discussion will be the approval of dividend at 1 Romanian lei per share. After approval, basically, the ex-dividend date will be August 30, the record date will be August 31, and the payment date will be September 14 for our shareholders. I think this concludes the presentation. Thank you very much for your attention. Probably in a minute or so, we should start discussing the questions.
As usual, we will read the questions from what you post in the chat boxes, and we'll, we'll take it from here. Alexandru Tudor, congratulations on the reported period. I have a question regarding Digi's ARPU in the future. Although we are currently in a highly inflationary period, we saw a decline in the ARPU. I understand this is in line with the strategy to grow the market share as much as possible, but considering that you offer the lowest prices in the market, can we expect in the future to see an increase in ARPU, which can boost the profits for the company? Thank you very much for the question. To be a bit ironical, I think we are profitable, so it's not necessarily an issue in itself, but it, it's just a joke.
Just, just so to make sure, it's just a joke. I think we, we, we touched this question before, and I hope some of the listeners who participated in the previous discussions will find this answer similar to the one that we had before. We are basically not in the business of decreasing prices. However, what you see is also correct. There's a small or, or slight erosion in the ARPU in our numbers. This erosion is, is just very marginal. I mean, it's, yeah, I don't have a different word. It's just marginal.
To explain this is just, at least for Romania, our biggest market, the erosion comes from either factors outside of our control, for example, decline in the interconnection fees, which are mandated by the European Commission for a year or a year and a half already. They will continue to decline, and they will continue to be basically mandatory, applicable in a mandatory fashion, but also from factors like expanding into farther into rural areas, where our customers benefit from different, smaller pricing packages in comparison to urban customers. Urban market is a more established one with less mobility, while rural market still provides bigger growth opportunities, again, at least in Romania.
, in Spain and in Italy, the ARPU erosion may come for, again, from slightly different reasons, but mostly linked to the fact that people, or sorry, customers, choose just more attractive options, more attractive packages on a day-by-day basis. The question about the price increases, well, we do not plan a price increase in the coming future, but never say never. As I mentioned earlier, we are prone to the same inputs like any other company in Europe. We are subject to inflation, we are subject to costs, and possibly at some point in time, we'll have to adjust our prices as well. It's just, it's just not happening today. It's not happen...
It's, it, it, it, is- we do not expect it also to happen this year. Question from Oliver Burke. Can you confirm how much of the EUR 100 million RCF was undrawn at the end of the period? Can you disclose how much of the SFA facilities remain available to be drawn? At the end of June. Thank you. I think it's a good question. Basically, in addition to the EUR 200 million in cash that is available as of the end of quarter, the entire RCF is undrawn, EUR 100 million. The entire SFA that was originated in Romania by RCS & RDS of EUR 150 million, is undrawn, and most of the Spanish facility of EUR 100 million remains undrawn.
I think the total committed, available, and undrawn amount exceeds EUR 325 million as of the end of June. Again, it's on top of the EUR 200 million that we had available in cash. Can you please, sorry, Maurice Patrick, can you please update us on the launch timetable and plans for Belgium? Yes. There's little to mention at this moment for Belgium. We are still, let's say, in the R&D and preparation mode, and it's difficult for me to provide any time, any timetable as of now. I'm sorry, it's not a helpful answer, or it's not an informative answer, but this is how much we have at the moment.
Can you please update us on how many sites do you have built already in Portugal? How many you expect to have by December, and how many you need for launch? Well, this, this is a very precise question. I'd rather not answer it as such, well, with precise numbers. I think the broad idea is that we are working, and we have all the means to be there close to launch somewhere at the end of this year, beginning of next year. I'd rather not say it precisely, excuse me, but our plan is unchanged. Oliver Burke, given you have front and loaded Nokia Ericsson equipment purchases in the second quarter of 2023, does that mean CapEx savings in the future years?
Well, yes, because, it's a zero-sum game. What we paid earlier this year, will show as a smaller CapEx in the future. Yes. Question from Maurice Patrick: Can you please update us on your plan strategy for possible price increases in Romania and Spain? Well, I think I, I did mention it a bit earlier. We don't have plans to, to increase prices, neither in Romania nor in Spain. Question from Nora Mack: Thank you for the presentation. I have two questions, please. Can you provide a breakdown of CapEx per geography in the second quarter 2023? Electricity expenses costs, can you tell us, please, what's the driver behind? Nora, please do excuse me. I don't think I have the CapEx numbers split by geography.
However, in the segment, in the in the segment information part of our financial report, you have the additions to our fixed assets, which are split by geography. They are relatively good proxy. They're not, they're not perfect replacement for the cash CapEx. However, they're a relatively good proxy for the intensity of the investment activity. If you somehow follow these numbers, let's say, historically, you'll get a very precise and accurate feeling of what is happening in any of the markets. You have this information in our report. In relation to the electricity expenses, it's true. The reality, the reality is that there has been changes in the legal environment in Romania.
The electricity supply market is heavily regulated at this moment, with benefit for the users, both, residential and corporate, with electricity prices being kept at around EUR 200 per megawatt hour. We got rid of volatility, we got a cap for ourselves, and the electricity price is very predictable and it's smaller than what it used to be last year. This is all positive news for corporate users. I go to the next question. Ayesha Mansour, thanks for taking the question. I have 4 of them. One, is there interest in taking remedies in Spain? I think broadly, yes.
I mean, this is an important transformative moment for the Spanish market, with the market going from... with the market possibly going from 4 large players to 3 large players. If there is an opportunity, if there is ability for, for us, to play a part in this process, we, we, we, we will certainly be interested, to, to take, to take part. Now, how will it turn out finally? We don't know. We can't comment. We, we don't know. Second question: How much you pay Telefonica in wholesale fees today, and what could the saving be? I think this is a very precise question, and we would rather not answer it in this form. I'm not sure that we are looking for...
I mean, when we say remedies, we, we speak of remedies that can help us and can help the market just to, to, let's say, assure or to have continuously competitive environment. It's very, I think it's impossible for anyone to think of the long-term strategy, but also in a combined manner with the immediate savings. It's a question that, that is not possible to answer. Comments on the Spanish competition. Well, Spain is a vibrant and dynamic market. We sincerely hope it remains so in the future as well. Plans and timing of the Belgian launch, I think I mentioned a bit earlier, at this moment, we're not commenting on this point. Thank you. A question from Martin Hammerschmidt. Yeah, two questions.
Priorities on capital allocation, that's the first question. Romania and Spain are clearly the priority, as there might be remedies in Spain, your leverage approach is three times. How do you think the ability and time frame of your Belgian operations in case you acquire remedies in Spain? Well, yeah, I think there's an element of... I don't know, I don't know how to take these questions because you ask something in the future with the precision of the past. Knowing how much we need to spend both in Spain and in Belgium, knowing how much we need to spend on the remedies, although there are no remedies as we speak now.
I think this is, this is all highly speculative, and we'd rather take it one by one, at every step, whenever any of these happen and take place. Once again, I, I, I know I'm not helpful, and I think the real answer to your question is: whatever happens, remedies, Belgium, Portugal, I don't know, Romania, Spain, or any other market, we will aim not to grow our leverage beyond three times, apart for maybe short periods, with a clear visibility that we come down below three times. I think this is the important element of our strategy, and the rest is really, an event that will have to be taken individually on a case-by-case basis. The second question is on Spain.
Could you update us on how many homes have you passed with your FTTH network, and what the penetration rates on your own FTTH network is? Thank you very much. Yeah, it's a good question. We did announce earlier in April that we operate 6.5 million homes passed in Spain that are on our network. We did not make any other announcements since, at the moment, or more or less before the end of the year, we will probably not disclose the number. However, the number. I think the April reference is a good one in terms of the order of where we are. In terms of penetration, again, our network is relatively new.
It was built in the last few years, and again, most of it has been built probably in the last 2 years. The penetration is still relatively small to what it could be. We're using, as you know, we're using both Telefónica network, the wholesale Telefónica network. We're using our own network, and basically, I'd say that at the moment, the penetration rate on our network is rather irrelevant. We still need time to increase it. Yeah, thank you. I move on to the next question. José Rodriguez, could you give us more details about the development of your fixed infrastructure in Spain? How many households have you connected? I sincerely hope that the previous comments are addressing this point. I, I do hope so.
Laura Kunsey, would you be interested in any potential remedies from MásMóvill Orange Spain JV in terms of potential spectrum purchases? No, look, I think it's, it's, it's, it's very detailed. We, we cannot comment. A question from João. Thank you for the presentation. Regarding Portugal, is Digi going to have access to national roaming with any of the main operators? For the moment, so as of today, we have not been able to receive offers or to agree offers that would allow us to use national roaming. Hopefully, or maybe in the future. Ivan Romanenko, how much more CapEx do you need to invest in Portugal to start your operations next year? How much more CapEx do you need to invest to achieve an EBITDA close to 0 or break even? When do you expect to be profitable in Portugal?
I think, well, it's a bit early on. Portugal is a smaller market for us in comparison to both Romania and Spain, which are considerably bigger markets. We do expect CapEx to be somehow contained, not limited, but, let's say, smaller than the CapEx that we spent both in Romania and Spain. The intention is to start offering our services early next year. However, in the meantime, it's kind of difficult to comment on your questions. We do hope that within 2 or 3 years, we are able to achieve market share or a number of users that would allow us to break even.
What these numbers would be, what, what the number of users is or, or, what exactly the CapEx that we need to break before then, it's, it's difficult for us to provide at the moment. I'm sorry, I'm not very helpful, but this is the, that is the broad path that we are taking. Next question comes from Maurice again. "In Romania and Spain, what proportion of your broadband base is converged, fixed, and mobile?" Maurice, thank you. It's a good question, and I, I, I'd say that, yeah, no, rather than saying wrong numbers, I'd rather not answer. We could come up with these numbers somehow, maybe on our next communication.
This, this is a good question, and absolutely no problem to, to respond. Still, we see a lot of opportunity to upsell to our existing broadband users that do not have mobile yet from us, both in Romania and Spain. We also see a lot of opportunity to simply address our non-mobile users, irrespective of whether they are users at all in both markets. I think, because our market shares, I mean, in Spain, is very small, and in Romania is relatively smaller in comparison with the two largest operators. We have still a lot of potential for growth in this area, again, in Romania, but also in Spain. Question from Alex Lawrence: "Hi, what is- what are your plans to address the 2025 bond maturity?
Alex, thank you very much for the question. I did answer in an extensive manner a bit earlier, both about the available cash, but also available facilities that we have at this moment. Basically, we rely on our own capital, but also committed capital from the banks in excess of EUR 500 million at this moment, and this is the primary source for our 2025 repayments. In addition to this, we rely on our future EBITDA, primarily 2024 EBITDA, given our ability to scale down CapEx, if necessary.
Also, we possibly rely on, on extra financing facilities, if, if needed, because at this moment, the exposure, our exposure to our banks is relatively limited, and we know there is interest from them to finance us further. Next question is from João. "In Portugal, do you expect ARPU to be closer to the Spanish one, around EUR 9.4 per month?" Yeah, look, I will not answer in numbers. We have not done our final homework. It's a bit early on, as we speak today. What I can promise is that it will be an attractive price, a price that would address, let's say, the needs of the public and the price that should be sustainable for a long period ahead.
I mean, this, this is how we usually judge our markets, our market opportunities. We will, we will disclose this at around the launch. The question from Martin Hammerschmidt: "Can you tell us a bit more about the conditions of the EUR 350 million credit facilities that you have? If you grow them, would they be cheaper than the current interest on the bonds?" Well, I wish they were, unfortunately not. The bonds were raised in pre-COVID era, and it was a totally different market. Today, we're speaking about variable floating rates on top of EURIBOR. Certainly, it's, it's a higher cost than what the bonds are. We are short of questions for now. We did answer them all, or I didn't answer them all, sorry.
We will stay on the line for a few more minutes, and if you have more questions, please be welcome. It looks like the line is free. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for your interest. Thank you very much for attending. I hope it was helpful. Once again, we are very pleased and very happy with the results, and we look forward to hear you all next time when we speak in November.