Release of 27.04.2021

Strong First quarter 2021: Operative EBITDA Growth in all Markets

Thomas Arnoldner, CEO of A1 Telekom Austria Group, on the highlights of the first quarter of 2021:

"Despite the still noticeable impact of the COVID 19 pandemic, we were able to continue the strong operational performance in the first quarter of 2021. Although there were significant roaming losses due to the cancellation of winter tourism, these were offset by attractive product and service offerings, digitalization projects in companies and higher demand for more bandwidth.

Group revenues increased by 0.8% and service revenues grew by 0.6% despite roaming losses and negative currency effects. Group EBITDA increased by 4.7%, adjusted for restructuring even by 5.7%. The net result for the first quarter was EUR 108.9 million, significantly above the previous year.

COVID-19 will continue to have an impact in 2021, but will also further accelerate digitalization in many areas. An excellently functioning digital infrastructure is the basis for this. We will therefore continue to invest in the further expansion of our 5G and fibre broadband networks in 2021 and push ahead with the rollout."

Alejandro Plater, COO of A1 Telekom Austria Group, adds:

"In the first quarter, the number of mobile contract subscribers increased by 5.3% year-on-year, with growth in almost all markets due to high demand for wifi routers. Fixed RGUs declined slightly by 0.9% year-on-year, with strong demand for bandwidth upgrades and, in CEE markets, TV.

We continue to execute our digital transformation activities which improve not only our operational efficiency but also customer satisfaction. This set of measures has contributed to increasing EBITDA margins in almost all segments as well as to a good Group EBITDA. Both Austria, with 4.4% EBITDA growth (excluding restructuring), and the CEE markets, with 13.2% growth (excluding currency effects) recorded pleasing developments in this respect.

Additionally, our investment level has accelerated driven by 5G rollouts across many operations and by expanding our fixed broadband infrastructure.

With the rebranding in Serbia, we recently successfully completed the implementation of our Group-wide one-brand strategy, which we initiated in 2017. The strong A1 brand is thus present in all markets, it stands for a new common identity and will further support our market positioning."

More information is available:

https://newsroom.a1.group/News.aspx?l=english

Contact

(1)Michael Höfler (en)
Dr. Michael Höfler
A1 Group Spokesperson
+43 664 66 30362
michael.hoefler@a1.group