23.02.2022
DGAP-News:Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG: Strong FY21 growth momentum fuels confident FY22 outlook
DGAP-News: Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG / Key word(s): Annual
Results/Preliminary Results
Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG: Strong FY21 growth momentum fuels
confident FY22 outlook
23.02.2022 / 07:29
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
MUNICH, 23 February 2022
Preliminary results for January to December 2021
Strong FY21 growth momentum fuels confident FY22 outlook
- Delivered FY21 at top-end of double-upgraded outlook - growth momentum
continues including >1.5m mobile postpaid net additions
- FY21 revenue growth of +3.1% y-o-y mainly driven by continued strong MSR
performance, +3.5% y-o-y; O2 Free portfolio driving sustained ARPU-growth
- FY21 OIBDA [1] grew +3.9% y-o-y on back of strong top-line growth,
efficiency gains and effective cost management
- C/S ratio of 16.5% in FY21 - passed Capex peak in-line with 'investment
for growth' programme
- Raised 2025 ambition for network energy efficiency to 87% reduction in
energy consumption, up from 82%
- Confident FY22 outlook based on continued growth momentum, achieved
network parity, and leading ESG strategy
- FY21 dividend proposal of EURc 18 per share to AGM in-line with dividend
floor
Operating performance
In a dynamic yet rational telco market, Telefónica Deutschland continued to
drive strong commercial traction in Q4 21. Continued high customer demand
for the O2 Free portfolio and ongoing core business momentum drove net
additions up almost 50% to >1.5 million in FY21. The customer attractiveness
of the O2 Free portfolio combined with network parity drove historic low
churn levels and achieved a 'very good' rating in all five categories of the
respective connect magazine's test with O2 Free winning four of those.
Telefónica Deutschland delivered sustained financial momentum throughout
FY21, posting the highest FY revenues and OIBDA1 in the company's history.
The company pushed ahead with its 5G rollout, as part of its 'investment for
growth' programme, reaching ~30% of the German population with all available
5G frequencies at year-end, thereof 15% with fast 3.6 GHz.
At the same time, the company completed its accelerated 3G switch-off by
year end 2021, thus improving the energy efficiency of its O2 network and
achieving its 2025 energy efficiency target ahead of schedule. Consequently,
the company has raised its 2025 ambition for network energy efficiency to
87% reduction in energy consumption per data volume (GWh/PB), up from
previously 82%.
The O2 network was again awarded a 'very good' rating in the renowned
connect magazine network test, achieving the best result in Telefónica
Deutschland's history despite tougher test criteria. This is the result of
the company's continuous network expansion strategy including the focus on a
fast 5G network, which also supports continued historic low churn levels of
the O2 brand.
Top ESG rating providers highly rate and recognise Telefónica Deutschland
for its leading ESG strategy.
Telefónica Deutschland announces a dividend proposal of EURc 18 per share
for FY21 to the AGM. This dividend proposal is in-line with the dividend
floor for the financial years 2021-23 announced at the company's Strategy
Update on 19 January 2021. Hereby, Telefónica Deutschland confirms its
strong commitment to attractive shareholder remuneration while financial
flexibility remains the company's foremost priority during unprecedented
C-19 times.
Mobile business
Mobile postpaid posted strong growth with +518k net additions in Q4 21, up
+19.0% y-o-y in Q4 21 (+1,526k in FY21, +46% y-o-y) driven by sustained
customer demand and historic low churn levels for the O2 Free portfolio as
well as a solid contribution from partner brands.
M2M reported +39k net additions in Q4 21 (+203k in FY21) versus +55k in Q4
20 (+218k in FY20).
Mobile prepaid registered -188k net disconnections in Q4 21 (-310k net
disconnections in FY21) compared to -247k net disconnections in Q4 20 (-813k
net disconnections in FY20) mainly reflecting the steady market trend of
prepaid to postpaid migration and seasonal dynamics.
Churn in the O2 brand remained at historic low levels with 1.0% in Q4 21
(flat y-o-y) and 0.9% in FY21, an improvement of 0.2 p.p. y-o-y.
Telefónica Deutschland's mobile customer accesses climbed to 45.7m (+3.2%
y-o-y) as of 31 Dec-21, driven by the increasing contribution of the mobile
postpaid base ex M2M, up +6.5% y-o-y to 25.1m accesses (54.9% of total
mobile base). M2M accesses totalled 1.6m, +14.4% y-o-y and mobile prepaid
base declined -1.6%
y-o-y to 19.0m.
O2 postpaid ARPU continued its upwards trend, posting +0.7% y-o-y growth in
Q4 21 and +0.2% y-o-y in FY21. Prepaid ARPU stood at EUR 6.5 in Q4 21, up
+4.4% y-o-y (+4.0% y-o-y to EUR 6.3 in FY21).
Fixed business
Fixed broadband customer base totalled 2.3m accesses at year-end 2021 (+0.1%
y-o-y) driven by the sustained growth of the VDSL base (+2.0% y-o-y to 1.8m
accesses), which maintained 81% share of fixed broadband customer base with
fibre and cable gaining traction in customer demand for the O2 Free my Home
portfolio.
Fixed net additions posted a second consecutive quarter of growth with a
sequential improvement to +7k net additions in Q4 21 (+1k net additions in
FY 21) in a market focused on high-speed fixed connectivity. VDSL recorded
+10k net additions in Q4 21 (+36k net additions in FY21) and there was
ongoing robust customer demand for cable and fibre accesses as well as for
fixed-mobile substitution (FMS) products.
Fixed churn remained flat y-o-y at low levels of 0.9% in both, Q4 21 and
FY21.
Fixed broadband ARPU continued to grow reflecting the increasing share of
high value customers in the base, posting +2.1% y-o-y growth to EUR 24.4 in
Q4 21, (+1.7% to EUR 24.2 in FY21).
Financial performance
Revenues were up +1.6% y-o-y to EUR 2,055m in Q4 21, (FY21 EUR 7,765m, +3.1%
y-o-y; underlying [2] +2.6% y-o-y) mainly driven by the continued strong
performance of mobile service revenues with the O2 Free portfolio fuelling
sustained ARPU-growth.
Mobile service revenues [3] grew +2.6% y-o-y in Q4 21 to EUR 1,394m (FY21
EUR 5,492m, +3.5% y-o-y; underlying2 +2.7% y-o-y). The ongoing success of
the O2 brand and solid partner performance more than compensated the impact
from the MTR cut effective 1 Jul-21, less sequential support from roaming
and tougher comps in Q4.
Handset revenues declined -1.1% y-o-y to EUR 446m in Q4 21 (+1.9% y-o-y to
EUR 1,450m in FY21) mainly reflecting launch-cycles of mobile devices and a
steady customer demand for high-value handsets.
Fixed revenues continued to grow, recording +4.4% y-o-y growth to EUR 211m
in Q4 21 (+3.6% y-o-y to EUR 814m in FY21) reflecting the increasing share
of high value customers in the base.
Other income [4] reached EUR 50m in Q4 21 and EUR 402m in FY21 (EUR 47m in
Q4 20 and EUR 542m in FY 20).
Operating expenses [5] included restructuring expenses and other exceptional
items in the amount of EUR -4m in Q4 21 (EUR -19m in FY21) and were up +3.0%
y-o-y to EUR 1,485m in Q4 21 (+2.3% y-o-y to EUR 5,514m in FY21).
- Supplies were lower -5.2% y-o-y to EUR 638m in Q4 21 (-1.3% y-o-y to EUR
2,403m in FY21) mainly driven by the positive effects from the MTR cut (from
EURc 0.78 to EURc 0.70 as of 1 Jul-21) and lower hardware cost of sales.
Connectivity-related cost of sales and hardware cost of sales accounted for
41% and 56% of FY21 supplies, respectively.
- Personnel expenses were up +2.8% y-o-y reaching EUR 155m in Q4 21. This is
mainly reflecting the general pay-rise as of 1 Dec-21 and slightly higher
restructuring costs of EUR -4m (EUR -3m in Q4 20). In FY21 personnel
expenses decreased -4.2% y-o-y to EUR 585m due to lower restructuring costs
(EUR -8m in FY21 vs EUR -28m in FY20), received social security payments for
employees of temporarily closed own shops in H1 21 and a lower FTE base,
mainly in customer service.
- Other operating expenses (other Opex) expanded +10.3% y-o-y to EUR 671m in
Q4 21 and +7.8%
y-o-y to EUR 2,454m in FY21 (including restructuring expenses and other
exceptional items; EUR +0.2m in Q4 21 and EUR -12m in FY21 compared to EUR
-8m and EUR -10m in prior year periods). This is mainly driven by the strong
commercial momentum throughout FY21, some C-19 related phasing of marketing
spend into H2 21 to enhance brand perception and technology transformation
including 3G switch-off. Commercial and non-commercial costs accounted for
64% and 33% of other Opex in Q4 21, respectively. Group fees were broadly
stable y-o-y and accounted for EUR 9m in Q4 21 and EUR 33m in FY21.
OIBDA [6] decreased -2.3% y-o-y to EUR 624m in Q4 21 (FY21 +3.9% to EUR
2,411m, underlying [7] growth +1.8% y-o-y) mainly due to some C-19 related
phasing of marketing spend into H2 21 as well as technology transformation
including 3G switch-off in combination with ongoing top-line growth and
efficiency gains. OIBDA6 margin stood at 30.4% in Q4 21 (31.0% in FY21),
down -1.2 p.p. y-o-y in Q4 21 and improved by +0.3 p.p. y-o-y in FY21.
Depreciation & Amortisation was +0.5% y-o-y reaching EUR 2,382m in FY21 as
the positive effect from end of useful life of the UMTS licenses at YE20 was
offset by the completion of the 3G switch-off (accelerated to YE21), further
network modernisation and higher RoU asset amortisation.
Operating income stood at EUR +272m in FY21 supported by EUR +262m capital
gain related with the spin-off and sale of the operations of the final
tranche of ~4k mobile sites passive infrastructure to Telxius
(EUR +401m capital gains related to the sale of assets in FY20).
Net financial expenses accounted for EUR -62m in FY21 versus EUR -66m in
FY20.
Income tax was EUR +5m in FY21 (current tax expenses of EUR -79m offset by
deferred tax income of EUR +84m) compared to EUR +80m in FY20 (current tax
expenses of EUR -15m offset by deferred tax income of EUR +95m).
Total profit for the period stood at EUR +211m in FY21 compared to EUR +328m
in FY20.
CapEx [8] increased +28.7% y-o-y amounting EUR 474m in Q4 21 (+17.3% y-o-y
to EUR 1,284m in FY21) with a C/S ratio of 23.1% (16.5% in FY21). Telefónica
Deutschland passed its Capex peak in FY21. The company is on track for
normalised C/S levels towards YE22, in-line with the company's 'investment
for growth' programme to capture valuable revenue and OIBDA growth
opportunities.
Operating cash flow (OIBDA minus CapEx8) decreased -13.8% y-o-y and reached
EUR 1,369m in FY21. Excluding exceptional effects, operating cash flow
amounted to EUR 1,127m in FY21, down -8.0% y-o-y.
Free cash flow (FCF) [9] amounted to EUR 1,502m in FY21 (EUR 1,896m in FY20)
and included EUR 540m proceeds mainly from the before mentioned sale of
assets to Telxius. Lease payments, primarily for leased lines and antenna
sites, amounted to EUR -602m in FY21 (EUR -547m in FY20). As a result, FCFaL
stood at EUR +900m in FY21 including the before mentioned effects compared
to EUR +1,349m in FY20.
Working capital movements were negative in the amount of EUR -96m in FY21.
This development was mainly driven by an increase in capex payables (EUR
117m), increased pre-payments (EUR -9m), net restructuring impacts (EUR 5m)
as well as other working capital movements of EUR -210m. The latter include
the development of trade and other payables (EUR 172m), which was outweighed
by other working capital movements, especially trade and other receivables
of EUR -322m (driven by lower silent factoring and higher revenues).
Consolidated net financial debt [10] amounted to EUR 3,045m as of 31 Dec-21,
and included the FY20 dividend payment of EUR 535m in May 2021 as well as a
net increase in lease liabilities of EUR 489m reflecting IFRS 16 accounting
for the before mentioned transfer of ~4k mobile sites passive infrastructure
to Telxius as well as for regular contract renewals. The resulting leverage
ratio of 1.3x [11] remained well below the company's self-defined upper
limit of at or below 2.5x and leaves comfortable leverage headroom with
regards to the company's BBB-rating with stable outlook by Fitch.
Financial outlook FY22
FY22 marks the final year of Telefónica Deutschland's three-year 'investment
for growth' programme with focus on three growth pillars:
- Growing mobile market share in rural areas while reinforcing a strong
market position in urban
- Smart bundling of fixed & mobile products as well as fixed mobile
substitution (FMS)
- Seizing the B2B market opportunity, particularly in the SME segment.
In 2022, Telefónica Deutschland will continue to build on the sustained
operational and financial momentum delivered in financial year 2021,
leveraging the focused execution and the achievements in the first two years
of the programme, in particular its network quality equalisation. The O2
network was again awarded a 'very good' rating in the renowned connect
magazine test, achieving the best result in Telefónica Deutschland's history
despite tougher test criteria. This is the result of the company's
continuous network expansion strategy including the focus on a fast 5G
network, which also supports the ongoing historic lows in churn for the O2
brand.
The multi-brand and multi-channel strategy remains the backbone of
Telefónica Deutschland's go-to-market strategy and the company continues to
focus on both, ARPU-up and churn-down. Postpaid is the strongest
value-generator for the business, driven mainly by own brand performance. In
prepaid, the company expects the current trend of pre- to postpaid migration
to continue. Telefónica Deutschland Group assumes pricing in the premium and
discount segments to remain stable in 2022 based on current market dynamics
and expects a more benign C-19 environment.
Telefónica Deutschland anticipates regulatory changes to remain a headwind
for its financial performance in 2022. Revenues, and to a lesser extent
OIBDA, will be impacted mainly by the drag of the termination rate cut for
mobile voice minutes from EUR 0.70 cents to EUR 0.55 cents as of 1 January
2022.
At the same time, Telefónica Deutschland will continue to pursue its path of
digital transformation and as a result expects to benefit from top-line
growth as well as efficiency gains. Telefónica Deutschland emphasizes
sustainable growth and, as part of its ESG targets, is committed to achieve
net zero CO2 emissions by 2025. Already today, Telefonica Deutschland uses
100% electricity from renewable sources.
As a result, Telefónica Deutschland's sustained mobile service revenues
momentum continues to be the main driver of the company's revenue
trajectory. Telefónica Deutschland expects roaming revenues to show further
recovery over the course of the year with anticipated easing of C-19
restrictions.
Handset revenues continue to depend on market dynamics as well as the launch
cycles and availability of new smartphones. As in the past, handset margins
continue to be broadly OIBDA neutral.
On the fixed business side, the technology-agnostic approach of Telefónica
Deutschland includes all key infrastructures (i.e. VDSL, cable, fibre, FMS)
enabling the company to match individual customer needs in the best way.
In this context, Telefónica Deutschland expects both, financial year 2022
total revenues and OIBDA adjusted for exceptional effects, to post 'low
single-digit percentage year-on-year growth' with further adjusted OIBDA
margin expansion while including regulatory headwinds of ca. EUR -70 to -80
million' at revenues and ca. EUR -15 to -20 million at OIBDA level,
respectively.
To fully capture these revenues and OIBDA growth opportunities, Telefónica
Deutschland will continue its network-focused investment programme which
peaked in 2021. It is aimed at boosting rural coverage primarily with 4G and
adding urban capacity preferably through 5G. Telefónica Deutschland expects
a CapEx to Sales ratio (C/S) of 14% - 15% in the financial year 2022 with
C/S normalising towards year end.
Telefónica Deutschland's assumptions are based on broadly unchanged overall
economic conditions, current competitive dynamics, and existing wholesale
relationships. At the same time, management is continuously monitoring and
analysing the impact on the company from the C-19 environment including
worldwide supply chain developments.
Actual Outlook 2022[1][12] 1. #footnote_12
2021
Revenues EUR low single digit percentage
7,765 year-on-year growth
million
OIBDA Adjusted for EUR low single digit percentage
exceptional effects 2,411 year-on-year growth, further margin
million expansion
Capex to Sales 16.5% 14% - 15%
Ratio
Telefónica Deutschland announces a dividend proposal of EURc 18 per share
for FY21 to the AGM. This dividend proposal is in-line with the dividend
floor for the financial years 2021-23 announced at the company's Strategy
Update on 19 January 2021. Hereby, Telefónica Deutschland confirmed its
strong commitment to attractive shareholder remuneration while financial
flexibility remains the company's foremost priority during unprecedented
C-19 times.
Link to detailed Data Tables
Further information
Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG
Investor Relations
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 50
80992 München
Christian Kern, Director Investor Relations; (m) +49 179 9000 208
Marion Polzer, CIRO, Head of Investor Relations; (m) +49 176 7290 1221
Eugen Albrecht, CIRO, Senior Investor Relations Officer; (m) +49 176 3147
5260
(t) +49 89 2442 1010
ir-deutschland@telefonica.com
www.telefonica.de/investor-relations
Disclaimer:
This document contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements
and expectations about Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG (in the following
"the Company" or "Telefónica Deutschland") that reflect the current views
and assumptions of Telefónica Deutschland's management with respect to
future events, including financial projections and estimates and their
underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives and
expectations which may refer, among others, to the intent, belief or current
prospects of the customer base, estimates regarding, among others, future
growth in the different business lines and the global business, market
share, financial results and other aspects of the activity and situation
relating to the Company. Forward-looking statements are based on current
plans, estimates and projections. The forward-looking statements in this
document can be identified, in some instances, by the use of words such as
"expects", "anticipates", "intends", "believes", and similar language or the
negative thereof or by forward-looking nature of discussions of strategy,
plans or intentions. Such forward-looking statements, by their nature, are
not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and
uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond
Telefónica Deutschland's control and other important factors that could
cause actual developments or results to materially differ from those
expressed in or implied by the Company's forward-looking statements. These
risks and uncertainties include those discussed or identified in fuller
disclosure documents filed by Telefónica Deutschland with the relevant
Securities Markets Regulators, and in particular, with the German Federal
Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für
Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht - BaFin). The Company offers no assurance that
its expectations or targets will be achieved.
Analysts and investors, and any other person or entity that may need to take
decisions, or prepare or release opinions about the shares / securities
issued by the Company, are cautioned not to place undue reliance on those
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this
document. Past performance cannot be relied upon as a guide to future
performance.
Except as required by applicable law, Telefónica Deutschland undertakes no
obligation to revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events and
circumstances after the date of this presentation, including, without
limitation, changes in Telefónica Deutschland's business or strategy or to
reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
The financial information and opinions contained in this document are
unaudited and are subject to change without notice.
This document contains summarised information or information that has not
been audited. In this sense, this information is subject to, and must be
read in conjunction with, all other publicly available information,
including if it is necessary, any fuller disclosure document published by
Telefónica Deutschland.
None of the Company, its subsidiaries or affiliates or by any of its
officers, directors, employees, advisors, representatives or agents shall be
liable whatsoever for any loss however arising, directly or indirectly, from
any use of this document its content or otherwise arising in connection with
this document.
This document or any of the information contained herein do not constitute,
form part of or shall be construed as an offer or invitation to purchase,
subscribe, sale or exchange, nor a request for an offer of purchase,
subscription, sale or exchange of shares / securities of the Company, or any
advice or recommendation with respect to such shares / securities. This
document or a part of it shall not form the basis of or relied upon in
connection with any contract or commitment whatsoever.
These written materials are especially not an offer of securities for sale
or a solicitation of an offer to purchase securities in the United States,
Canada, Australia, South Africa and Japan. Securities may not be offered or
sold in the United States absent registration under the US Securities Act of
1933, as amended, or an exemption there from. No money, securities or other
consideration from any person inside the United States is being solicited
and, if sent in response to the information contained in these written
materials, will not be accepted.
[1] Adjusted for exceptional effects. In Q4 21, exceptional effects amounted
to EUR -4m of restructuring costs (EUR -11m in Q4 20). In FY21 exceptional
effects of EUR +243m mainly include a capital gain related to the spin-off
and sale of the operations of the final tranche of ~4k mobile sites passive
infrastructure to Telxius (EUR +262m) as well as restructuring expenses and
other exceptional items (EUR -19m). In FY20, exceptional effects of EUR
+364m included the net capital gain from the sale of assets (EUR +401m) as
well as restructuring costs and other exceptional items (EUR -38m).
[2] Excluding non-recurrent special factors. Non-recurrent special factors
amounted to EUR +14m in Q2 21 and EUR -25m in Q2 20.
[3] Mobile service revenue includes base fees and fees paid by the company's
customers for the usage of voice, SMS and mobile data services; it also
includes access and interconnection fees as well as other charges levied on
partners for the use of the company's network.
[4] In FY21 including the capital gain related to the spin-off and sale of
the operations of the final tranche of ~4k mobile sites passive
infrastructure to Telxius in the amount of EUR +262m and in FY20 including
the net capital gain from the sale of assets of EUR +401m.
[5] Operating expenses include impairment losses in accordance with IFRS 9
in the amount of EUR 21m in Q4 21 and EUR 72m in FY21 (compared to EUR 10m
and EUR 69m in the respective periods of 2020).
[6] Adjusted for exceptional effects. In Q4 21, exceptional effects amounted
to EUR -4m of restructuring costs (EUR -11m in Q4 20). In FY21 exceptional
effects of EUR +243m mainly include a capital gain related to the spin-off
and sale of the operations of the final tranche of ~4k mobile sites passive
infrastructure to Telxius (EUR +262m) as well as restructuring expenses and
other exceptional items (EUR -19m). In FY20, exceptional effects of EUR
+364m included the net capital gain from the sale of assets (EUR +401m) as
well as restructuring costs and other exceptional items (EUR -38m).
[7] Excluding non-recurrent special factors and excluding received social
security payments. Non-recurrent special factors amounted to EUR +12m in Q2
21 and EUR -25m in Q2 20.
[8] CapEx includes additions to property, plant and equipment and other
intangible assets while investments for spectrum licenses and additions from
capitalised right-of-use assets are not included.
[9] Free cash flow pre dividends and payments for spectrum (FCF) is defined
as the sum of cash flow from operating activities and cash flow from
investing activities and does not contain payments for investments in
spectrum as well as related interest payments.
[10] Net financial debt includes current and non-current interest-bearing
financial assets and interest-bearing liabilities as well as cash and cash
equivalents and excludes payables for spectrum.
[11] Leverage ratio is defined as net financial debt divided by OIBDA of the
last twelve months adjusted for exceptional effects.
[12] Including regulatory headwinds of ca. EUR -70 to -80 million at
revenues level and ca. EUR -15 to -20 million at OIBDA level.
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Language: English
Company: Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 50
80992 München
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)89 24 42 0
Internet: www.telefonica.de
ISIN: DE000A1J5RX9
WKN: A1J5RX
Indices: MDAX
Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard);
Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf,
Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange
EQS News ID: 1285865
MDAX TecDAX
End of News DGAP News Service
1285865 23.02.2022