REG - Helios Towers PLC - Q1 2025 Results
Thu 07:01
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RNS Number : 7800H Helios Towers PLC 08 May 2025
Unaudited trading update for the three months ended 31 March 2025
+668 tenancy additions year-to-date
+9% year-on-year Adj. EBITDA growth
2025 guidance reaffirmed
London, 8 May 2025: Helios Towers plc ("Helios Towers", "the Group" or "the
Company"), the independent
telecommunications infrastructure company, today announces results for the
three months to 31 March 2025 ("Q1 2025").
Tom Greenwood, Chief Executive Officer, said:
"We are pleased to have continued the momentum from 2024, a year of
significant progress across multiple value streams, into 2025. In the first
three months of the year, we have delivered strong operational and financial
performance, with Adj. EBITDA increasing 9% year-on-year, supported by over
600 tenancy additions year-to-date, and are tracking strongly towards our
tenancy ratio target of 2.2x by 2026.
Reflecting the Company's consistently strong performance, we were delighted to
see continued improvements recognised in our credit ratings. S&P and Fitch
upgraded our rating from B+ to BB- and Moody's improved their outlook to
positive on its B1 credit rating.
Despite the broader macroeconomic uncertainties, we remain confident in our
outlook due to the resilience of our performance and predictability of our
robust business model. We reaffirm our full-year guidance as we continue to
focus on capital efficient organic growth, deleveraging and free cash flow
generation."
Q1 2025 Q1 2024 Change Q1 2025 Q4 2024 Change
Sites 14,417 14,166 +2% 14,417 14,325 +1%
Tenancies 30,074 27,686 +9% 30,074 29,406 +2%
Tenancy ratio 2.09x 1.95x +0.14x 2.09x 2.05x +0.04x
Revenue (US$m) 203.8 194.6 +5% 203.8 207.3 -2%
Adjusted EBITDA (US$m)(1) 111.1 102.2 +9% 111.1 109.1 +2%
Adjusted EBITDA margin(1) 55% 53% +2ppt 55% 53% +2ppt
Operating profit (US$m) 76.6 67.3 +14% 76.6 51.7 +48%
ROIC(1) 13.8% 12.6% +1.2ppt 13.8% 12.9% +0.9ppt
Free cash flow (US$m)(1) 1.5 -27.7 +29.2 1.5 39.8 -38.3
Net debt (US$m)(1) 1,768.5 1,812.1 -2% 1,768.5 1,735.5 +2%
Net leverage(1,2) 4.0x 4.4x -0.4x 4.0x 4.0x -
1 Alternative Performance Measures are described in our defined terms and
conventions.
2 Calculated as per the Senior Notes definition of net debt divided by
annualised Adjusted EBITDA.
Financial highlights
Strong progress towards FY 2025 guidance, driven by tenancy growth and
underpinned by contracted revenues that feature CPI and power price
protections
· Revenue increased by 5% year-on-year to US$203.8m (Q1 2024:
US$194.6m), driven by tenancy growth partially offset by lower power prices,
which decreased power-linked revenues and power operating expenses comparably
· Adjusted EBITDA increased by 9% year-on-year to US$111.1m (Q1
2024: US$102.2m), driven by tenancy growth
· Adjusted EBITDA margin increased 2ppt year-on-year to 55% (Q1
2024: 53%), driven by margin accretive tenancy ratio expansion and lower power
prices
· Operating profit increased by 14% year-on-year to US$76.6m (Q1
2024: US$67.3.m), driven by Adjusted EBITDA growth
· Free cash flow increased by US$29.2m year-on-year to US$1.5m
driven by Adjusted EBITDA expansion and lower discretionary capital additions,
with working capital outflow in the quarter in-line with typical seasonality
· Net leverage decreased by 0.4x year-on-year to 4.0x (Q1 2024:
4.4x)
o In April 2025, Fitch upgraded Helios Towers' credit rating from B+ to BB-
and Moody's improved their outlook to positive on its B1 credit rating,
reflecting the Company's ongoing deleveraging and consistently strong
operating performance
o This follows S&P upgrading their credit rating from B+ to BB- in
February 2025 and credit rating upgrades from Moody's and S&P from B to B+
(or equivalent) in early 2024
· Business is underpinned by future contracted revenues of
US$5.3bn, of which 99% is from multinational MNOs, with an average remaining
initial life of 6.9 years
Operational highlights
Consistent and strong tenancy growth supporting tenancy ratio expansion
towards 2.2x
· Sites increased by 251 year-on-year to 14,417 sites (Q1 2024:
14,166 sites)
o Increased by 92 quarter-on-quarter
· Tenancies increased by 2,388 year-on-year to 30,074 tenants (Q1
2024: 27,686 tenants)
o Increased by 668 quarter-on-quarter
· Tenancy ratio increased by 0.14x year-on-year to 2.09x (Q1 2024:
1.95x)
o Increased by 0.04x quarter-on-quarter
2025 Outlook and guidance
· The Group reaffirms its FY 2025 guidance:
o 2,000 - 2,500 tenancy additions
o Adjusted EBITDA of US$460m - US$470m
o Capital expenditure of US$150m - US$180m
§ Of which US$100m - US$130m and US$50m is expected to be discretionary(1)
and non-discretionary(2), respectively
o Free cash flow of US$40m - US$60m(3)
o Net leverage c.3.5x
1 Discretionary includes acquisitions, growth and upgrade capex.
2 Non-discretionary includes maintenance and corporate capex.
3 Assumes a net working capital outflow of approximately $20m.
For further information go to:
www.heliostowers.com (http://www.heliostowers.com/)
Enquiries:
For investor enquiries Chris Baker-Sams - Head of Strategic Finance and Investor Relations
+44 782 511 2288
investorrelations@heliostowers.com (mailto:investorrelations@heliostowers.com)
For media enquiries Headland
Andy Rivett-Carnac, +44 796 899 7365
Stephanie Ellis, +44 731 136 9804
Joe Hughes, +44 731 137 0016
HeliosTowers@headlandconsultancy.com
(mailto:HeliosTowers@headlandconsultancy.com)
Helios Towers' Management will host a conference call for analysts and
institutional investors at 09.30 BST on Thursday 8 May 2025. For thebest user
experience, please access the conference via the webcast. You can pre-register
and access the event using the link below:
Registration Link - Helios Towers Q1 2025 Results Conference Call (https://www.investis-live.com/heliostowers/67ed04bbdc07cd000f9407f3/rtyerr)
Event Name: Q12025
Password: HELIOS
If you are unable to use the webcast for the event, or if you intend to
participate in Q&A during the call, please dial in using the details
below:
Europe & International +44 203 936 2999
South Africa (local) +27 87 550 8441
USA (local) +1 646 233 4753
Passcode: 631424
Upcoming Conferences and Events
Helios Towers management is expected to participate in the upcoming conferences outlined below:
• Annual General Meeting - 15 May 2025
• BofA Emerging Markets Corporate Conference (Miami) - 28 to 29 May
2025
• Barclays Emerging Markets ESG Corporate Days (Virtual) - 24 to 25
June 2025
• Morgan Stanley Global Tower Day (Virtual) - 25 June 2025
About Helios Towers
· Helios Towers is a leading independent telecommunications
infrastructure company, having established one of the most extensive tower
portfolios across Africa and the Middle East. It builds, owns and operates
telecom passive infrastructure, providing services to mobile network operators
· Helios Towers owns and operates over 14,000 telecommunication
tower sites in nine countries across Africa and the Middle East
· Helios Towers pioneered the model in Africa of buying towers that
were held by single operators and providing services utilising the tower
infrastructure to the seller and other operators. This allows wireless
operators to outsource non-core tower-related activities, enabling them to
focus their capital and managerial resources on providing higher quality
services more cost-effectively
Alternative Performance Measures
The Group has presented a number of Alternative Performance Measures ("APMs"),
which are used in addition to IFRS statutory performance measures. The Group
believes that these APMs, which are not considered to be a substitute for or
superior to IFRS measures, provide stakeholders with additional helpful
information on the performance of the business. These APMs are consistent with
how the business performance is planned and reported within the internal
management reporting to the Board. Profit/(Loss) before tax, gross profit,
non-current and current loans and long-term and short-term lease liabilities
are the equivalent statutory measures (see 'Certain defined terms and
conventions'). For more information on the Group's Alternative Performance
Measures, see the Group's Annual report for the year ended 31 December 2024,
publishedon the Group's website. Reconciliations of APMs to the equivalent
statutory measure are included in the Group's Half-Year and Annual financial
reports.
Financial and operating metrics
Key metrics
For the three months ended 31 March:
Group Middle East & North
Africa(3) East & West Africa(4) Central & Southern
Africa(5)
2025 2024 2025 2024 2025 2024 2025 2024
US$m US$m US$m US$m US$m US$m US$m US$m
Sites at period end 14,417 14,166 2,557 2,531 6,534 6,431 5,326 5,204
Tenancies at period end 30,074 27,686 4,405 3,657 13,907 12,946 11,762 11,083
Tenancy ratio at period end 2.09x 1.95x 1.72x 1.44x 2.13x 2.01x 2.21x 2.13x
Revenue for the period 203.8 194.6 18.7 16.9 83.7 79.4 101.4 98.3
Adjusted gross margin(1) 66% 64% 82% 80% 72% 67% 57% 58%
Adjusted EBITDA for the period 111.1 102.2 14.0 12.2 56.6 49.4 50.1 49.5
Adjusted EBITDA Margin(2) for the period 55% 53% 75% 72% 68% 62% 49% 50%
1 Adjusted gross margin means gross profit, adding back site depreciation,
divided by revenue.
2 Group Adjusted EBITDA for the period includes corporate costs of US$9.6
million (2024: US$8.9 million).
3 Middle East & North Africa ('MENA') segment reflects the Company's
operations in Oman.
4 East & West Africa segment reflects the Company's operations in
Tanzania, Senegal and Malawi.
5 Central & Southern Africa segment reflects the Company's operations in
DRC, Congo Brazzaville, South Africa, Ghana and Madagascar.
Total tenancies
As at 31 March:
Group MENA East & West Africa
Group Oman Tanzania Senegal Malawi
2025 2024 2025 2024 2025 2024 2025 2024 2025 2024
Standard colocation tenants 12,313 11,349 1,227 888 5,305 4,969 130 102 598 525
Amendment colocation tenants 3,344 2,171 621 238 1,091 835 59 30 190 54
Total colocation tenants 15,657 13,520 1,848 1,126 6,396 5,804 189 132 788 579
Total sites 14,417 14,166 2,557 2,531 4,252 4,180 1,458 1,455 824 796
Total tenancies 30,074 27,686 4,405 3,657 10,648 9,984 1,647 1,587 1,612 1,375
Tenancy ratio 2.09x 1.95x 1.72x 1.44x 2.50x 2.39x 1.13x 1.09 x 1.96x 1.73x
Central & Southern Africa
DRC Congo Brazzaville Ghana South Africa Madagascar
2025 2024 20 2025 2024 2025 2024 2025 2024 2025 2024
Standard colocation tenants 3,475 3,299 194 192 969 986 254 248 161 140
Amendment colocation tenants 664 445 83 34 486 388 102 115 48 32
Total colocation tenants 4,139 3,744 277 226 1,455 1,374 356 363 209 172
Total sites 2,694 2,591 553 549 1,097 1,096 382 378 600 590
Total tenancies 6,833 6,335 830 775 2,552 2,470 738 741 809 762
Tenancy ratio 2.54x 2.45x 1.50x 1.41x 2.33x 2.25x 1.93x 1.96x 1.35x 1.29x
Revenue
Revenue increased by 5% to US$203.8m in the three-month period ended 31 March
2025 (Q1 2024: US$194.6m). The increase was largely driven by the growth in
tenancies from 27,686 as of 31 March 2024 to 30,074 as of 31 March 2025,
partially offset by lower power prices, which resulted in lower power-linked
revenues and lower power operating expenses. Quarter-on-quarter, revenue
declined by 2% from US$207.3m in Q4 2024, driven by the impact of lower power
prices.
For the period ended 31 March 2025, 99% of revenues were from multinational
MNOs and 67% were denominated in US Dollar, CFA Franc (which is pegged to the
Euro) or Omani Rial (which is pegged to the US Dollar).
Contracted revenue
The following table provides our total undiscounted contracted revenue by
region as of 31 March 2025 for each of the periods from 2025 to 2029, with
local currency amounts converted at the applicable average rate for US Dollars
for the period ended 31 March 2025 held constant. Our contracted revenue
calculation for each year presented assumes: (i) no escalation in fee rates,
(ii) no increases in sites or tenancies other than our committed tenancies,
(iii) our customers do not utilise any cancellation allowances set forth in
their MSAs, (iv) our customers do not terminate MSAs early for any reason and
(v) no automatic renewal.
Year ended 31 December
9 months to 2026 2027 2028 2029
31 December 2025
US$m US$m US$m US$m US$m
Middle East & North Africa 44.3 58.9 58.8 58.8 58.8
East & West Africa 230.5 269.3 263.0 256.6 253.5
Central & Southern Africa 278.4 340.3 310.7 299.9 248.3
553.2 668.5 632.5 615.3 560.6
The following table provides our total undiscounted contracted revenue by key
customer type as of 31 March 2025 over the life of the contracts with local
currency amounts converted at the applicable average rate for US Dollars for
the period ended 31 March 2025 held constant. Our calculation uses the same
assumptions as above. The average remaining life of customer contracts is 6.9
years.
(US$m) Total Committed Revenues Percentage of Total Committed Revenues
Large multinational MNOs 5,307.6 99.4%
Other 30.3 0.6%
5,337.9 100%
Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA increased by 9% to US$111.1m in the three-month period ended
31 March 2025 (Q1 2024: US$102.2m). The increase in Adjusted EBITDA was driven
by tenancy growth and margin accretive tenancy ratio expansion of 0.14x
year-on-year.
From a segment perspective, the year-on-year growth in the Group's Adjusted
EBITDA was driven by its East & West Africa segment, growing by US$7.2m
year-on-year, in addition to the Middle East & North Africa and Central
& Southern Africa segments expanding US$1.8m and US$0.6m, respectively.
Adjusted EBITDA margin was 55% in the three-month period ended 31 March 2025
(Q1 2024: 53%).
Recurring levered free cash flow and free cash flow
Recurred levered free cash flow increased by US$13.3m year-on-year to US$16.9m
(Q1 2024:US$3.6m), driven by Adjusted EBITDA expansion, lower maintenance and
corporate capital additions, lower lease liability payments and lower external
interest payments partially offset by higher tax payments.
Free cash flow increased by US$29.2m year-on-year driven by recurring levered
free cash flow growth and lower discretionary capital additions.
3 months ended 31 March
2025 2024
US$m US$m
Adjusted EBITDA 111.1 102.2
Less: Maintenance and corporate capital additions (5.6) (14.5)
Less: Payments of lease liabilities(1) (8.4) (14.4)
Less: Tax paid (13.8) (3.4)
Portfolio free cash flow(2) 83.3 69.9
Cash conversion %(3) 75% 68%
Net payment of interest(4) (17.0) (23.0)
Net change in working capital(5) (49.4) (43.3)
Recurring levered free cash flow(6) 16.9 3.6
Discretionary capital additions(7) (15.4) (30.5)
Cash paid for exceptional and one-off items, and proceeds from disposal of - (0.8)
assets(8)
Free Cash Flow 1.5 (27.7)
1 Payment of lease liabilities comprises interest and
principal repayments of lease liabilities.
2 Refer to reconciliation of cash generated from
operations to portfolio free cash flow in the Alternative Performance Measures
section of the Annual Report.
3 Cash conversion % is calculated as portfolio free
cash flow divided by Adjusted EBITDA.
4 Net payment of interest corresponds to the net of
'Interest paid' (including withholding tax) and 'Interest received' in the
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flow, excluding interest payments on lease
liabilities.
5 Working capital means the current assets less the
current liabilities for the Group. Net change in working capital corresponds
to movements in working capital, excluding cash paid for exceptional and
one-off items and including movements in working capital related to capital
expenditure.
6 Recurring levered portfolio free cash flows have been
represented based on the updated structure of the management cash flow. It is
defined as portfolio free cash flow less net payment of interest and net
change in working capital.
7 Discretionary capital additions includes
acquisition, growth and upgrade capital additions.
8 Cash paid for exceptional and one-off items and
proceeds on disposal of assets includes project costs, deal costs, deposits in
relation to acquisitions, proceeds on disposal of assets and non-recurring
taxes.
Gross debt, net debt, net leverage and cash & cash equivalents
Net leverage decreased by 0.4x year-on-year to 4.0x (Q1 2024: 4.4x). The Group
targets reducing net leverage to c.3.5x in 2025.
31 March 31 December
2025 2024
US$m US$m
External debt(1) 1,704.9 1,672.8
Lease liabilities 230.0 223.7
Gross debt 1,934.9 1,896.5
Cash and cash equivalents (166.4) (161.0)
Net debt 1,768.5 1,735.5
Annualised Adjusted EBITDA(2) 444.4 436.4
Net leverage(3) 4.0x 4.0x
1 External debt is presented in line with the
balance sheet at amortised cost.
2 Annualised Adjusted EBITDA calculated as
per the Senior Notes definition as the most recent fiscal quarter multiplied
by 4. This is not a forecast of future results.
3 Net leverage is calculated as net debt
divided by annualised Adjusted EBITDA.
Return on Invested Capital
Return on invested capital increased by 1.2 ppt year-on-year (Q1 2024: 12.6%) and increased 0.9ppt quarter-on-quarter.
31 March 31 December
2025 2024
US$m US$m
Property, plant and equipment 963.0 981.0
Accumulated depreciation 1,205.1 1,236.5
Accumulated maintenance and corporate capital expenditure (307.6) (302.0)
Intangible assets 537.4 531.4
Accumulated amortisation 99.3 106.7
Accounting adjustments and deferred consideration for future sites (240.4) (240.4)
Total invested capital 2,256.8 2,313.2
Annualised portfolio free cash flow(1) 311.9 298.4
Return on invested capital 13.8% 12.9%
(1) Annualised portfolio free cash flow is calculated as portfolio free
cash flow for the last twelve months.
Capital expenditure
The following table shows capital expenditure additions by category during the
three months ended 31 March:
2025 2024
% of % of
US$m Total capex US$m Total capex
Acquisition - 0.0% 4.6 10.2%
Growth 9.4 44.8% 17.8 39.6%
Upgrade 6.0 28.5% 8.1 18.0%
Maintenance 4.7 22.4% 13.9 30.9%
Corporate 0.9 4.3% 0.6 1.3%
21.0 100.0% 45.0 100.0%
Maintenance capital expenditure decreased by US$9.2m year-on year and growth
capital expenditure, which includes new BTS, colocations and operational
efficiency investments, decreased by US$8.4m year-on-year. The year-on-year
decrease in capital expenditure was driven by timing. The Group continues to
expect capital expenditure of US$150m - US$180m for FY 2025.
Certain defined terms and conventions
We have prepared the annual report using a number of conventions, which you
should consider when reading information contained herein as follows. All
references to 'we', 'us', 'our', 'HT Group', 'Helios Towers' our 'Group' and
the 'Group' are references to Helios Towers, plc and its subsidiaries, taken
as a whole.
'2G' means the second-generation cellular telecommunications network
commercially launched on the GSM and CDMA standards.
'3G' means the third-generation cellular telecommunications networks that
allow simultaneous use of voice and data services, and provide high-speed data
access using a range of technologies.
'4G' means the fourth-generation cellular telecommunications networks that
allow simultaneous use of voice and data services, and provide high-speed data
access using a range of technologies (these speeds exceed those available for
3G).
'5G' means the fifth generation cellular telecommunications networks. 5G does
not currently have a publicly agreed upon standard; however, it provides
high-speed data access using a range of technologies that exceed those
available for 4G.
'Adjusted EBITDA' is defined by management as profit/loss before tax for the
period, adjusted for finance costs, other gains and losses, interest
receivable, loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment, amortisation of
intangible assets, depreciation and impairments of property, plant and
equipment, depreciation of right-of-use assets, deal costs for aborted
acquisitions, deal costs not capitalised, share-based payments and long-term
incentive plan charges, and other adjusting items. Adjusting items are
material items that are considered one-off by management by virtue of their
size and/or incidence.
'Adjusted EBITDA margin' means Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue.
'Adjusted gross margin' means Adjusted Gross Profit divided by revenue.
'Adjusted gross profit' means gross profit adding back site and warehouse
depreciation.
'Airtel' means Airtel Africa.
'amendment revenue' means revenue from amendments to existing site contracts
when tenants add or modify equipment, taking up additional vertical space,
wind load capacity and/or power consumption under an existing site contract.
'anchor tenant' means the primary customer occupying each site.
'Analysys Mason' means Analysys Mason Limited.
'annualised Adjusted EBITDA' means Adjusted EBITDA for the last three months
of the respective period, multiplied by four, adjusted to reflect the
annualised contribution from acquisitions that have closed in the last three
months of the respective period.
'Annualised portfolio free cash flow' means portfolio free cash flow in the
trailing twelve months, adjusted to annualise for the impact of acquisitions
closed during the period.
'average remaining initial life' means the average of the periods through the
expiration of the term under certain agreements, excluding future automatic
renewals.
'APMs' Alternative Performance Measures are measures of financial performance,
financial position or cash flows that are not defined or specified under IFRS
but used by the Directors internally to assess the performance of the Group.
'average grid hours' or 'average grid availability' reflects the estimated
site weighted average of grid availability per day across the Group portfolio
in the reporting year.
'Axian' means Axian Group.
'build-to-suit' (BTS) means sites constructed by our Group on order by a MNO.
'carbon emissions per tenant' is the metric used for our intensity target. The
carbon emissions include Scope 1 and 2 emissions for the markets included in
the target and the average number of tenants is calculated using monthly data.
'colocation' means the sharing of site space by multiple customers or
technologies on the same site, equal to the sum of standard colocation tenants
and amendment colocation tenants.
'colocation tenant' means each additional tenant on a site in addition to the
primary anchor tenant and is classified as either a standard or amendment
colocation tenant.
'committed colocation' means contractual commitments relating to prospective
colocation tenancies with customers.
'Company' means Helios Towers plc.
'Congo Brazzaville' otherwise also known as the Republic of Congo.
'contracted revenue' means total undiscounted revenue as at that date with
local currency amounts converted at the applicable average rate for US Dollars
held constant. Our contracted revenue calculation for each year presented
assumes: (i) no escalation in fee rates, (ii) no increases in sites or
tenancies other than our committed tenancies (which include committed
colocations and/or committed anchor tenancies), (iii) our customers do not
utilise any cancellation allowances set forth in their MLAs (iv) our customers
do not terminate MLAs early for any reason and (v) no automatic renewal.
'corporate capital expenditure' primarily relates to furniture, fixtures and
equipment.
'downtime per tower per week' refers to the average amount of time our sites
are not powered across each week within our seven markets that Helios Towers
was operating in across 2024 and 2025.
'Deloitte' means Deloitte LLP.
'DRC' means Democratic Republic of Congo.
'FRS 102' means the Financial Reporting Standard Applicable in the UK and
Republic of Ireland.
'free cash flow' means recurring levered free cash flow less discretionary
capital additions and cash paid for exceptional and one-off items, and
proceeds on disposal assets.
'Ghana' means the Republic of Ghana.
'GHG' means greenhouse gases.
'gross debt' means non-current loans and current loans and long-term and
short-term lease liabilities.
'gross leverage' means gross debt divided by annualised Adjusted EBITDA.
'gross profit' means revenue after deducting cost of sales.
'growth capex' or 'growth capital expenditure' relates to (i) construction of
build-to-suit sites (ii) installation of colocation tenants and (ii) and
investments in power management solutions.
'Group' means Helios Towers plc and its subsidiaries.
'GSMA' is the industry organisation that represents the interests of mobile
network operators worldwide.
'hard currency Adjusted EBITDA' refers to Adjusted EBITDA that is denominated
in US Dollars, US Dollar pegged, US Dollar linked or Euro pegged.
'hard currency Adjusted EBITDA %' refers to hard currency Adjusted EBITDA as a
% of Adjusted EBITDA
'Helios Towers Congo Brazzaville' or 'HT Congo Brazzaville' means Helios
Towers Congo Brazzaville SASU.
'Helios Towers DRC' or 'HT DRC' means HT DRC Infraco SARL.
'Helios Towers Ghana' or 'HT Ghana' means HTG Managed Services Limited.
'Helios Towers Oman' or 'HT Oman' means Oman Tech Infrastructure SAOC.
'Helios Towers plc' means the ultimate Company of the Group.
'Helios Towers South Africa' or 'HTSA' means Helios Towers South Africa
Holdings (Pty) Ltd and its subsidiaries.
'Helios Towers Tanzania' or 'HT Tanzania' means HTT Infraco Limited.
'IFRS' means International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the
European Union.
'independent tower company' means a tower company that is not affiliated with
or majority owned by a telecommunications operator.
'ISO accreditations' refers to the International Organisation for
Standardisation and its published standards: ISO 9001 (Quality Management),
ISO 14001 (Environmental Management), ISO 45001 (Occupational Health and
Safety), ISO 37001 (Anti-Bribery Management) and ISO 27001 (Information
Security Management).
'IVMS' means in-vehicle monitoring system.
'Lean Six Sigma' is a renowned approach that helps businesses increase
productivity, reduce inefficiencies and improve the quality of output.
'lease-up' means the addition of colocation tenancies to our sites.
'Levered portfolio free cash flow' means portfolio free cash flow less net
payment of interest and net change in working capital.
'Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate' means the number of lost time injuries per
one million person-hours worked (12-month roll)
'LTIP' means Long-Term Incentive Plan.
'Madagascar' means Republic of Madagascar.
'Malawi' means Republic of Malawi.
'maintenance capital expenditure' means capital expenditures for periodic
refurbishments and replacement of parts and equipment to keep existing sites
in service.
'Mauritius' means the Republic of Mauritius.
'MENA' means Middle East and North Africa.
'Middle East' region includes thirteen countries namely Hashemite Kingdom of
Jordan, Kingdom of Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Republic of Iraq,
Republic of Lebanon, State of Kuwait, Sultanate of Oman, State of Palestine,
State of Qatar, Syrian Arab Republic, The Republic of Yemen, The Islamic
Republic of Iran and The United Arab Emirates.
'MLA' means master lease agreement.
'MNO' means mobile network operator.
'mobile penetration' means the amount of unique mobile phone subscriptions as
a percentage of the total market for active mobile phones.
'MTN' means MTN Group Ltd.
'MTSA' means master tower services agreement.
'near miss' is an event not causing harm but with the potential to cause
injury or ill health.
'NED' means Non-Executive Director.
'net debt' means gross debt less cash and cash equivalents.
'net leverage' means net debt divided by annualised Adjusted EBITDA.
'net receivables' means total trade receivables (including related parties)
and accrued revenue, less deferred income.
'Oman' means Sultanate of Oman.
'Omantel' means Oman Telecommunications Company SAOG.
'Orange' means Orange S.A.
'organic tenancy growth' means the addition of BTS or colocations not as a
result of M&A activities.
'our established markets' refers to Tanzania, DRC, Congo Brazzaville, Ghana
and South Africa.
'our markets' or 'markets in which we operate' refers to Tanzania, DRC, Congo
Brazzaville, Ghana, South Africa, Senegal, Madagascar, Malawi and Oman.
'population coverage' refers to the Company estimated potential population
that falls within the network coverage footprint of our towers, calculated
using WorldPop source data.
'portfolio free cash flow' defined as Adjusted EBITDA less maintenance and
corporate capital additions, payments of lease liabilities (including interest
and principal repayments of lease liabilities) and tax paid.
'PoS' means points of service, which is an MNO's antennae equipment
configuration located on a site to provide signal coverage to subscribers. At
Helios Towers, a standard PoS is equivalent to one tenant on a tower.
'power uptime' reflects the average percentage our sites are powered across
each month, and is a key component of our service offering to customers.
'Project 100' refers to our commitment to invest US$100 million between 2022
and 2030 on carbon reduction and carbon innovation.
'recurring levered free cash flow' (formerly levered portfolio free cash flow)
means portfolio free cash flow less net payment of interest and net change in
working capital.
'road traffic accident frequency rate' means the number of work-related road
traffic accidents per 1 million kilometres driven (12-month roll).
'ROIC' means return on invested capital and is defined as annualised portfolio
free cash flow divided by invested capital.
'rural area' while there is no global standardised definition of rural, we
have defined rural as milieu with population density per square kilometre of
up to 1,000 inhabitants. These include greenfield sites, small villages and
towns with a series of small settlement structures.
'rural coverage' is the population living within the footprint of a site
located in a rural area.
'rural sites' means sites which align to the above definition of 'rural area'.
'Senegal' means the Republic of Senegal.
'SHEQ' means safety, health, environment and quality.
'site acquisition' means a combination of MLAs or MTSAs, which provide the
commercial terms governing the provision of site space, and individual ISA,
which act as an appendix to the relevant MLA or MTSA, and include
site-specific terms for each site.
'site agreement' means the MLA and ISA executed by us with our customers,
which act as an appendix to the relevant MLA and includes certain
site-specific information (for example, location and any grandfathered
equipment).
'SLA' means service-level agreement.
'South Africa' means the Republic of South Africa.
'standard colocation' means tower space under a standard tenancy site contract
rate and configuration with defined limits in terms of the vertical space
occupied, the wind load and power consumption.
'Tanzania' means the United Republic of Tanzania.
'TCFD' means Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures.
'telecommunications operator' means a company licensed by the government to
provide voice and data communications services.
'tenancy' means a space leased for installation of a base transmission site
and associated antennae.
'tenancy ratio' means the total number of tenancies divided by the total
number of our sites as of a given date and represents the average number of
tenants per site within a portfolio.
'tenant' means an MNO that leases vertical space on the tower and portions of
the land underneath on which it installs its equipment.
'the Trustee' means the trustee(s) of the EBT.
'total colocations' means standard colocations plus amendment colocations as
of a given date.
'total recordable case frequency rate' means the total recordable injuries
that occur per one million hours worked (12-month roll).
'total tenancies' means total anchor, standard and amendment colocation
tenants as of a given date.
'tower contract' means the MLA and individual site agreements executed by us
with our customers, which act as a schedule to the relevant MLA and includes
certain site-specific information (for example, location and equipment).
'towerco' means tower company, a corporation involved primarily in the
business of building, acquiring and operating telecommunications towers that
can accommodate and power the needs of multiple tenants.
'tower sites' means ground-based towers and rooftop towers and installations
constructed and owned by us on property (including a rooftop) that is
generally owned or leased by us.
'UK Corporate Governance Code' or 'the Code' means the UK Corporate Governance
Code 2024 published by the Financial Reporting Council and dated January 2025,
as amended from time to time.
'UK GAAP' means the United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.
'upgrade capex' or 'upgrade capital expenditure' comprises structural,
refurbishment and consolidation activities carried out on selected acquired
sites.
'Viettel' means Viettel Tanzania Limited.
'Vodacom' means Vodacom Group Limited.
Disclaimer:
This release does not constitute an offering of securities or otherwise an
invitation or inducement to any person to underwrite, subscribe for or
otherwise acquire or dispose of securities in Helios Towers plc (the
'Company') or any other member of the Helios Towers group (the 'Group'), nor
should it be construed as legal, tax, financial, investment or accounting
advice. This release contains forward-looking statements which are subject to
known and unknown risks and uncertainties because they relate to future
events, many of which are beyond the Group's control. These forward-looking
statements include, without limitation, statements in relation to the
Company's financial outlook and future performance. No assurance can be given
that future results will be achieved; actual events or results may differ
materially as a result of risks and uncertainties facing the Group.
You are cautioned not to rely on the forward-looking statements made in this
release, which speak only as of the date of this announcement. The Company
undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to
reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or
circumstances. Nothing in this release is or should be relied upon as a
warranty, promise or representation, express or implied, as to the future
performance of the Company or the Group or their businesses.
This release also contains non-GAAP financial information which the Directors
believe is valuable in understanding the performance of the Group. However,
non-GAAP information is not uniformly defined by all companies and therefore
it may not be comparable with similarly titled measures disclosed by other
companies, including those in the Group's industry. Although these measures
are important in the assessment and management of the Group's business, they
should not be viewed in isolation or as replacements for, but rather as
complementary to, the comparable GAAP measures.
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