Release of 17.07.2018
Alejandro Plater, CEO and COO of the A1 Telekom Austria Group, comments on the key financial highlights in the 1st half-year 2018
“Our growth strategy continued to deliver success in the first half of 2018. Despite a highly competitive environment and the challenging regulatory framework our operating performance remained convincing. Group revenues and EBITDA showed a stable development. The reported net result of course was negatively impacted by D&A related to the Group-wide roll-out of the A1 brand. Excluding the accounting effect of this extraordinary brand amortisation, the net result rose by 22%. Our free cash flow recorded significant growth of 35%. This strong cash flow generation and strong credit metrics prompted the rating agency Moody´s to upgrade our rating recently from Baa2 to Baa1.”
Highlights for the first half of 2018 – proforma (1)
- Group total revenues increased by 1.3% (reported: +1.6%). Excluding FX and the one-off effects total revenues grew by 3.1% (reported: +3.4%), with service revenue growth in all markets except for Slovenia.
- Excluding FX and the minor one-off effects (restructuring charges had basically no impact), Group EBITDA increased by 3.3% (reported: 3.6%), as the solid fixed-line performance was able to offset investments into A1 Digital and increased workforce costs as well as higher content costs.
- Net result grew by 22.5% in the first half of 2018 excluding D&A from the amortisation of the brand of EUR 173.5 mn (reported net result 1-6 M 2018: EUR 82.5 mn; 1-6 M 2017: EUR 208.9 mn).
- Reported capital expenditures decreased by 10.8% year-on-year to EUR 313.4 mn in the first half of 2018, mainly driven by lower investments in Slovenia and Bulgaria.
- Reported free cash flow increased by 35.4% to EUR 205.7 mn in the first half of 2018.
- Group outlook 2018 unchanged: total revenue growth of 1-2% (on a reported basis), CAPEX (2) of approx. EUR 750 mn.
(1) Proforma figures include effects of M&A transactions executed between the start of the comparison period and the end of the reporting period.
(2) Does not include investment in spectrum and acquisitions.
The highlights for the second quarter and the first half of 2018 are published in line with the reporting date of our parent company América Móvil, S.A.B. de C.V. The detailed information will be published on 24 July 2018.