Release of 28.04.2020
Good operating performance in Q1 2020, but first negative effects of Covid-19 perceptable
Thomas Arnoldner, CEO of A1 Telekom Austria Group, on the highlights of the first quarter 2020:
"Since the beginning of the year, many of the positive underlying trends of the previous year have continued. Revenues increased by 3.4%, and Group EBITDA adjusted for restructuring expenses grew slightly by 0.4%, with overall growth coming from the CEE markets.
With the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, the focus was on infrastructure maintenance, with the A1 networks coping well with the strong growth in data and voice traffic. Covid-19 had little impact on the first quarter results. However, due to the uncertain duration of the crisis, the further effects are not yet foreseeable and are quite diverse. On the one hand, we see increased demand for bandwidth, home office solutions or digitization projects, on the other hand, international travel restrictions have a negative impact on roaming revenues. Overall negative effects on busines with residential and business customers are to be expected. Various measures have been taken to be able to react flexibly to this situation.
In principle, the company will continue to benefit from its operating strength and solid capital structure during this period, but we have to suspend our outlook for the full year 2020 due to the currently unforeseeable Covid-19 effects.”
Alejandro Plater, COO A1 Telekom Austria Group, further comments:
"In the first quarter, the number of mobile contract subscribers grew by 5.0% year-on-year, with rising or stable numbers in all markets. The 5G launch in Austria was also successful and the tariff portfolio was well received. Fixed net RGUs declined slightly by 0.9% year-on-year, with strong demand for TV and speed upgrades. The launch of the new TV platform A1 Xplore TV in Austria also contributed to this development.
The entire Group was challenged with the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, with organisational agility proving to be a key factor in maintaining operations and delivering our services. Most of the shops in the A1 markets remained open, and a great share of employees now work in their home offices. The call centres also remained operational, and service technicians continued to work wherever possible to meet all customer needs.
The focus on operational efficiency remains the most important factor in this environment and appropriate measures are on track. Provisions for bad debts were also increased due to the macroeconomic outlook, which had a negative impact on EBITDA growth. However, the medium and long-term effects of this global crisis will only become apparent over time due to the predicted economic downturn."
More information is available in the Earnings Release:
https://newsroom.a1.group/News.aspx?l=english
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