Brief: Belarus currency, lack of roaming weigh on Telekom Austria earnings
20/10/2020 18:16
Oct 20 (Reuters) - A1 Telekom Austria TELA.VI :
* GROUP TOTAL REVENUES DECREASED BY 0.9% DUE TO ROAMING
LOSSES AND
NEGATIVE FX EFFECTS PARTLY OUTWEIGHED BY HIGHER EQUIPMENT
REVENUES
* EXCLUDING FX EFFECTS, MAINLY STEMMING FROM BELARUS, TOTAL
REVENUES GREW BY 1.7%
* MOBILE SERVICE REVENUES DECLINED BY 3.8% ON A GROUP LEVEL,
SOLELY DRIVEN BY ABOVE-MENTIONED ROAMING LOSSES AND NEGATIVE FX
EFFECTS
* FIXED-LINE SERVICE REVENUES WERE STABLE (0.0%) AS GROWTH
IN
BULGARIA AND SLOVENIA WAS ABLE TO COMPENSATE FOR DECLINE IN
AUSTRIA AND OTHER CEE MARKETS
* GROUP EBITDA BEFORE RESTRUCTURING INCREASED BY 0.5% AS
ROAMING
AND FX LOSSES WERE OUTWEIGHED BY OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY,
ESPECIALLY RELATED TO WORKFORCE, MAINTENANCE AND ADVERTISING
* EXCLUDING FX AND ONE-OFF EFFECTS AS WELL AS RESTRUCTURING
CHARGES EBITDA ROSE BY 4.3%
* CAPEX FELL BY 32.6% DUE TO ACQUIRED FREQUENCIES IN
COMPARISON
PERIOD AND REDUCED SPENDING IN REPORTING PERIOD FOLLOWING CAPEX
CUTS
* IN Q3 2020, FREE CASH FLOW AFTER SOCIAL PLANS NEW DECLINED
BY
2.2% TO EUR 172.5 MN, AS LOWER CAPITAL EXPENDITURES WERE OFFSET
BY LOWER ACCOUNTS PAYABLES IN REPORTING PERIOD
* WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVES
THAT
WOULD ALLOW US TO REAP MORE BENEFITS FROM OUR TOWER ASSETS
THROUGH A TARGETED MANAGEMENT FOCUS ON INTERNAL EFFICIENCIES AND
HIGHER TENANCY RATIOS
* OUTLOOK 2020 UNCHANGED: ROUGHLY 2% DECLINE IN TOTAL
REVENUES,
MAINLY DRIVEN BY NEGATIVE IMPACTS FROM ROAMING AND FX; CAPEX
CUTS OF ROUGHLY 25% COMPARED TO INITIAL OUTLOOK
Further company coverage: TELA.VI
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