...Welcome to the summary of our A1 Group results for the third quarter.
The first 9 months, 2024. The clear focus on placing our customers in the core of our operations and constantly improving efficiency helped us to deliver both revenue and EBITDA growth, despite a more challenging market environment.
In the third quarter 2024, total revenues grew by 2%, driven by higher service revenues. Value-protecting measures, solid demand for our high-speed broadband and TV products were key for this performance. Especially our CEE countries performed very well, while we saw a slowdown in growth in Austria due to higher competition.
Despite cost pressure, especially on the workforce cost, we managed to increase EBITDA by 5%, increasing our margin by one percentage point to 4.4%. In the first 9 months, strong operational performance and a diligent capital allocation led to an increase in free cash flow of 29%.
Looking at further successful step in our growth strategy with the acquisition of Conexio Metro, a Serbian fiber company, we are now convergent in all our markets.
In August, A1 earned a gold medal in the sustainability rating from EcoVadis, placing us in the top 3% of all rated companies. A strong recognition of our commitment to sustainability.
Building on our strength, we will excel in our core business and expand our B2B digital services, while repurposing costs to invest in the market, drive efficiency, and secure a future-proof position, all to stay relevant to our customers. Therefore, we would like to confirm our guidance for 2024. Revenues to increase by 3%-4%, and CapEx excluding spectrum of around 800 -