Release of 17.10.2023
Highlights
Spin-off and listing of Telekom Austria’s tower business, EuroTeleSites
Strong FX impact from BYN/EUR:
- Revenues: EUR -33 mn
- EBITDA: EUR -14 mn
Q3 revenues up by 3%, driven by service revenues (+4%)
- Revenues up 5% in constant currencies
EBITDA growth of 0.6% despite special factors (EUR -7 mn in total), adverse FX developments (EUR ‑14 mn) and higher restructuring expenses (EUR -6 mn).
- The underlying EBITDA increased by 6%.
Telekom Austria was included in the ATX, the leading index of the Vienna Stock Exchange, on September 18, 2023
Video-Clip: The Management Board of A1 Group presents the results of Q3 2023
Various materials on Q3 and Q1-Q3 2023 are available at: https://a1.group/investor-relations/results-center/
Q3 2023 in a nutshell
The third quarter was dominated by the spin-off and listing of EuroTeleSites on September 22, 2023. As the deconsolidation process takes some time, the condensed financial results are preliminary. However, the impact of the spin-off on the profitability of Q3 is rather limited, especially in terms of revenues and EBITDA.
Total revenues increased by 2.6% to EUR 1,326 million, with service revenues up 4.5%. The Belarusian ruble depreciated strongly against the euro, negatively impacting revenues by EUR 33 million.
The EBITDA increased by 0.6%. However, the underlying performance was much stronger as a number of special factors, such as the stamp tax for the Austrian master lease agreement with EuroTeleSites, had a negative impact. Furthermore, the Belarusian ruble had a strong negative impact. In addition, restructuring expenses in Austria were higher than in the third quarter of the previous year. At that time, they were exceptionally low due to the sharp rise in interest rates. Despite these factors adding up to EUR -27 million, A1 reached a net result of EUR 201 million, i.e., only 4 million lower than in the third quarter of the previous year.
A major effect of the EuroTeleSites spin-off was the reduction of financial debt by around EUR 1 bil-lion to EUR 725 million. This corresponds to a net debt excluding leases/EBITDAaL ratio of 0.4x.
Outlook for financial year 2023 and mid-term ambitions
A1 confirms the existing guidance for 2023. Revenue growth is expected to be around 5%. CAPEX (excluding spectrum investments) should amount to around EUR 950 million.
For the period 2024-2026, A1 has the ambition to increase revenues by 3-4% and EBITDA by 4-5% per year (both ambitions are based on current inflation and exchange rate expectations). CAPEX should amount to about EUR 2.8 billion (total over the period) plus frequencies. The dividend baseline was increased from EUR 0.20 to EUR 0.32 per share, with the dividend policy being confirmed. This means that based on the Group's operational and financial development, the dividend level will be maintained or sustainably increased.