Ratifies the payment of a dividend of 0.3 euros charged to the 2024 results that will be paid in two tranches
Telefónica recorded a net profit of 532 million euros in the first quarter of the year, which represents an increase of almost 79% compared to the 298 million euros in the same period of the previous year, according to the accounts presented this Thursday by the company, which has also reported that it has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Digi for a long-term mobile network agreement.
The telecom invoiced 10,140 million euros between January and March 2024, that is, 0.9% more than the 10,045 million euros it received in the same months of the previous year, an increase that the company has attributed to the boost of service sales (2.3% year-on-year).
Of the total billing in the period, 61% comes from the residential market (B2C), while 22% comes from the business segment (B2B) and the remaining 17% corresponds to the wholesale business, partners and “other income.”
Meanwhile, the adjusted gross operating profit (Ebitda) stood at 3,205 million euros, which represents a year-on-year increase of 1.9% in relation to the 3,145 million euros in the same period of the previous year.
In this way, the adjusted Ebitda margin stood at 31.6%, that is, 0.3 percentage points more than the 31.3% margin recorded at the end of March 2023.
Likewise, operating profit closed the quarter at 1,042 million euros, which represents a year-on-year increase of 7.4% compared to 970 million euros in the same period of the previous year.
On the other hand, the investment figure between January and March 2024 has reached 1,056 million euros, 2.7% more year-on-year, so that the investment to income ratio stood at 10.4%, in line with the objective of closing the year with a ratio of up to 13%.
“We have started the year showing a solid strengthening of our business supported by the deployment of our new roadmap, the GPS strategic plan, which will guide Telefónica until 2026. Revenues improve, commercial activity improves and the quality of the service we provide improves. we provide to our clients and their satisfaction,” highlighted the president of Telefónica, José María Álvarez-Pallete.
“Telefónica is moving forward firmly in its centenary year with our principles of integrity, commitment and transparency, generating value for the shareholder,” added the manager.
In this sense, the operator has confirmed that this year it will distribute a cash dividend of 0.3 euros per share that will be paid in two tranches of 0.15 euros per share, specifically, one in December 2024 and the other in June 2025.
This remuneration is complemented by the reduction of share capital carried out last April through the amortization of 80.3 million treasury shares.
CUSTOMER BASE
The operator closed the quarter with a customer base of 388.3 million, 1.2% more than a year before and with a growth of 12% in fiber customers and 3% in mobile contract customers.
At the end of the first three months of the course, Telefónica had 175 million real estate units installed with ultra-fast networks, of which 76.6 million are FTTH (fiber to the home).
Regarding 5G, Telefónica’s networks cover 63% of the population of its main markets, specifically, 89% in Spain, 95% in Germany, 48% in Brazil and 53% in the United Kingdom.
“The January-March period has stood out for great commercial activity in the different markets and for the achievement of a very favorable degree of customer satisfaction, with an NPS (‘Net Promoter Score’) of 31 points. This commitment to customers “It is also reflected in the fact that Spain and Brazil have recorded the best churn levels (customer churn rate) in their history, since they have fallen to 0.9% and 0.97%, respectively,” he added. the company.
THE DEBT GROWS BY 7.7%
Telefónica’s net financial debt ended the first quarter of the year at 28,482 million euros, which represents an increase of 7.7% compared to the 26,443 million euros of the same period of the previous year.
Regarding this, the telecom has explained that it has increased by 1,133 million euros due to net financial investments of 882 million euros (mainly for the acquisition of shares in Telefónica Germany), shareholder remuneration (178 million euros), the free cash flow including spectrum payments (69 million euros) and “other net factors (4 million euros).
The net financial debt including leases amounts to 37,008 million euros at the end of last March.
“Financial leases decreased by 4% (394 million euros) year-on-year, due to the fact that principal payments are higher than the additions of rights of use. Telefónica has raised financing in the first quarter of 2024 for 4,008 million euros, of which, 3,133 million euros in the group and 877 million euros equivalent in Virgin Media O2 (its joint subsidiary with Liberty Global in the United Kingdom), the company added.
Throughout the first quarter, Telefónica has obtained long-term financing for an amount of 4,008 million euros, an aspect in which the two green hybrid bonds launched in January and March stand out.
“The financing activity has allowed the group to maintain a solid liquidity position of 19,337 million euros. At the end of March, the company had covered the maturities for the next three years and the average life of the debt was close to 11, 7 years,” the company explained.
CONFIRMS OBJECTIVES FOR 2024
The company has also confirmed its forecasts for 2024, which include revenue growth of around 1% and an increase in Ebitda of between 1% and 2%.
Likewise, Telefónica estimates that operating cash will also grow between 1% and 2%, while contemplating an investment figure over income of up to 13% and an increase in free cash flow of more than 10%.
