America Movil to trim 2024 capex to $7 bln after strong spending (updated)
14/02/2024 15:46
(Adds detail from conference call)
By Cassandra Garrison and Sarah Morland
MEXICO CITY, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Mexican
telecommunications giant America Movil AMXB.MX said on
Wednesday it expected capital expenditure of around $7 billion
this year, following years of significant spending on buying
spectrum and refreshing its network infrastructure.
This compares to spending of $8.6 billion in 2023.
In a call with analysts, finance chief Carlos Garcia
said the reduced capex was the result of significant prior
spending on wireless infrastructure. This year, Garcia said, the
firm's only significant spectrum spend should be in Ecuador.
The capex changes will allow for a better budget on
America Movil's broadband operations, he said, noting that
customers were reacting well to combining internet packages with
membership to streaming platforms.
Garcia added that the company plans to keep its holding
in Telekom Austria TELA.VI and sees further growth in the
European country, and that the firm planned to maintain its
Colombian investments, despite regulatory changes there.
The call follows America Movil's
fourth-quarter results
, in which it posted a better-than-expected net profit of
over $1 billion, even as a stronger peso diluted overseas
revenues abroad and it faced sky-high inflation in Argentina.
The firm was helped by market share gains in Brazil,
where Garcia said the company would look to hike its prices if
there is an opportunity to do so.
(Reporting by Sarah Morland and Cassandra Garrison)
((sarah.morland@thomsonreuters.com;))