(Telecompaper) CK Hutchison reported a slowdown in growth at 3 Group Europe in the first half of 2016, hurt by negative currency effects and slower customer growth. Revenues fell 1 percent year-on-year to HKD 30.165 billion and were up only 1 percent in local currency. EBITDA increased 9 percent to HKD 8.492 billion, slowing from 12 percent growth in 2015. Excluding currency effects, EBITDA rose 12 percent, which the company attributed to the increase in net customer service margin, continued cost synergies realised at 3 Ireland and good cost management in other operations. 3 Europe ended June with 26.8 million active customers, up by around 700,000 from the end of 2015.