11.05.2022
DGAP-News:Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG: Strong start to FY22 – ongoing profitable growth momentum building on network parity and ESG-leadership
DGAP-News: Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG / Key word(s): Quarterly /
Interim Statement
Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG: Strong start to FY22 – ongoing profitable
growth momentum building on network parity and ESG-leadership
11.05.2022 / 07:28
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
MUNICH, 11 May 2022
Telefónica Deutschland – Interim statement for January to March 2022
Strong start to FY22 – ongoing profitable growth momentum building on
network parity and ESG-leadership
- Growth momentum continues with net additions up 30% y-o-y equal to +287k
driven by O2 Free
- Ongoing strong revenue growth, +5.2% y-o-y fuelled by sustained MSR
momentum
- +7.2% y-o-y OIBDA [1] growth on improved operational leverage and further
efficiency gains
- C/S of 13.6% – executing 'investment for growth' programme according to
plan in its final year
- Driving ESG roadmap – 'Reduce-Repair-Recycle' important building block for
Circular Economy
- Reiterating FY22 outlook and proposing FY21 dividend of EURc 18 per share
to AGM
Operating performance
In a dynamic yet rational telco market, Telefónica Deutschland had a strong
start to the year, delivering sustained operational and financial momentum
in Q1 22. The ongoing core business strength and high customer demand for
the O2 Free portfolio is building on network parity and ESG leadership.
Telefónica Deutschland's rapid expansion of its 5G network reached an
important milestone: More than 10k 5G antennas are now on air, half of them
on the powerful 3.6 GHz spectrum. With its focus on real 5G, the company
already achieved 5G pop coverage of 40% at the end of April, well on track
for its target of 50% by YE 2022.
O2 confirmed its 'good'-rating in the connect magazine's hotline test with
significantly improved accessibility and waiting time. Overall, the O2
service team established itself as the firm No. 2 in the German market by
further increasing its lead over the third-placed operator.
Telefónica Deutschland takes responsibility for the climate and the
environment. The company's programme 'Reduce-Repair-Recycle' is an important
building block for applying the principles of the Circular Economy.
Conserving resources means above all reducing the consumption of natural
resources, keeping resources in use for as long as possible and, finally,
recycling them responsibly to reuse valuable raw materials.
For example, Telefónica Deutschland saved over 17 tons of plastic by
delivering around 8.6 million SIM cards in half-SIM card format last year.
For shipped devices, Telefónica Deutschland is minimising waste by
individually adapting recycled packaging for each product or, if possible,
completely dispenses additional outer packaging. This will further reduce
the use of packaging material and plastic. By no later than 2025, Telefónica
Deutschland plans to eliminate completely the use of non-recycled plastic in
its own logistics.
Mobile business
Mobile postpaid delivered strong growth with +287k net additions in Q1 22,
up +30.5% y-o-y, driven by the well-received O2 Free portfolio and a solid
contribution from partner brands. The commercial traction of the O2 brand
compensated for some anticipated temporarily higher churn on the back of the
EECC introduction.
M2M reported +34k net additions in Q1 22 versus +42k in Q1 21.
Mobile prepaid registered -100k net disconnections in Q1 22 (-109k in Q1 21)
mainly reflecting the steady market trend of prepaid to postpaid migration
and some seasonal dynamics.
Churn in the O2 brand was +0.2 p.p. y-o-y at 1.2% in Q1 22 mainly due to the
before mentioned temporary impacts from the EECC.
Telefónica Deutschland's mobile customer accesses grew to 45.9m (+3.3%
y-o-y) as of 31 Mar-22, driven by strong +6.7% y-o-y growth of the mobile
postpaid base ex M2M which reached 25.4m accesses equal to 55.3% of total
mobile base. M2M accesses reached 1.6m, posting high +13.4% y-o-y growth
while the mobile prepaid base declined -1.6% y-o-y to 18.9m.
O2 postpaid ARPU was -0.5% y-o-y in Q1 22 on the back of a combination of
the accelerated MTR glidepath and some enhanced focus on customer loyalty
including retention and bundle benefits, i.e. for 2nd SIM cards. Underlying
[2] O2 postpaid ARPU was +0.3% y-o-y. Prepaid ARPU was +5.6% y-o-y and stood
at EUR 6.3 in Q1 22.
Fixed business
Fixed broadband customer base was close to flat y-o-y at 2.3m accesses as of
31 March 2022. VDSL base reached 1.8m accesses, up +1.2% y-o-y to 81% of
fixed BB customer base. In Q1 22, fixed BB registered -10k net
disconnections mainly driven by legacy ADSL and some anticipated temporarily
higher churn on the back of the EECC introduction. Telefónica Deutschland's
technology agnostic O2 my Home products remained popular with cable and
fibre gaining traction as well as sustained demand for fixed-mobile
substitution (FMS). Including FMS, net additions were positive in the
quarter.
Fixed churn at 1.4% in Q1 22 was slightly higher by +0.5 p.p. y-o-y mainly
as a result of the EECC implementation.
Fixed broadband ARPU maintained its growth path with an increasing share of
high value customers in the base, reaching EUR 24.6 in Q1 22 up +2.8% y-o-y.
Financial performance
Revenues continued to post strong growth of +5.2% y-o-y to EUR 1,946m in Q1
22 on sustained mobile service revenue growth and high handset revenues.
Mobile service revenues [3] increased +3.3% y-o-y in Q1 22 to EUR 1,351m.
This positive trend is reflecting continued good commercial traction of the
O2 brand as well as some support from the recovery of international roaming
while the accelerated MTR glidepath [4] was a drag of -1.7 p.p. y-o-y.
Handset revenues were supported by good availability of devices at
Telefónica Deutschland and posted +13.2% y-o-y growth to EUR 392m in Q1 22.
Fixed revenues were -1.6% y-o-y to EUR 197m in Q1 22 mainly as a result of
the decline of the low margin international carrier voice business mainly
due to lower European termination rates. Retail fixed broadband revenues
continued their growth path, +1.8% y-o-y reflecting the increasing share of
high value customers in the base.
Other income reached EUR 32m in Q1 22 (EUR 30m in Q1 21).
Operating expenses [5] included restructuring expenses in the amount of EUR
-1m and increased +3.3% y-o-y to EUR 1,377m in Q1 22.
- Supplies were +0.4% y-o-y at EUR 592m in Q1 22 as the positive effects
from the MTR-cut4 were more than off-set by volume driven higher hardware
cost of sales. Connectivity-related cost of sales and hardware cost of sales
accounted for 37% and 60% of Q1 22 supplies, respectively.
- Underlying, personnel expenses were flattish y-o-y (+0.9%) at EUR 153m in
Q1 22 with a lower FTE base partly compensating for the general pay-rise of
1.75% as of 1 Dec-21. In reported terms, personnel expenses were up +8.8%
y-o-y mainly due to received social security payments in Q1 21 for employees
of temporary closed O2 shops during the government enforced lockdown.
- Other operating expenses (other Opex) were higher by +4.9% y-o-y to EUR
611m in Q1 22 reflecting technology transformation, commercial activity
including an enhanced retention focus and more normalised marketing spend vs
a lockdown quarter in the prior year. Commercial and non-commercial costs
accounted for 65% and 32% of other Opex in Q1 22, respectively. Group fees
accounted to EUR 9m in Q1 22 (EUR 10m in Q1 21).
OIBDA [6] posted strong growth of +7.2% y-o-y to EUR 602m in Q1 22 as a
result of further improved operational leverage in both, fixed and mobile.
This reflects own brand momentum, further efficiency gains as well as some
international roaming tailwinds and the effects from the MTR glidepath4.
Consequently, OIBDA6 margin improved to 30.9% in Q1 22, up +0.6 p.p. y-o-y.
Depreciation & Amortisation was lower -2.5% y-o-y reaching EUR 560m in Q1 22
mainly as a result of the 3G sunset at YE 2021 which was partly offset by
higher RoU asset amortisation and licenses added in the context of network
modernisation.
Operating income stood at EUR +42m in Q1 22 compared to EUR -27m in Q1 21.
Net financial expenses accounted for EUR -4m in Q1 22 versus EUR -10m in Q1
21.
Income tax was EUR -8m in Q1 22 compared to EUR -2m in Q1 21.
As a result, total profit for the period was EUR +27m in Q1 22 versus EUR
-40m in Q1 21.
CapEx [7] was up +16.1% y-o-y in Q1 22 reaching EUR 265m with a CapEx/Sales
ratio of 13.6% as Telefónica Deutschland continued to execute its
'investment for growth' programme according to plan in its final year. The
Company's 3-year programme passed its CapEx peak in FY 21 and Telefónica
Deutschland is well on track to achieve normalized C/S levels towards YE
2022.
Operating cash flow (OIBDA minus CapEx7) grew +5.6% y-o-y and reached EUR
336m in Q1 22. Excluding exceptional effects, operating cash flow amounted
to EUR 337m in Q1 22, up +1.2% y-o-y.
Free cash flow (FCF) [8] amounted to EUR 222m in Q1 22 compared to EUR 248m
in Q1 21. Lease payments, primarily for antenna sites and leased lines,
amounted to EUR -275m in Q1 22 (EUR -266m in Q1 21). As a result, FCFaL
stood at EUR -52m for the reporting period compared to EUR -18m in Q1 21.
Working capital movements were on similar levels as in prior year, EUR -86m
in Q1 22 vs EUR -73m in Q1 21. The development in Q1 22 was mainly driven by
a decrease in capex payables (EUR -78m), increased pre-payments (EUR -44m),
net restructuring impacts (EUR -3m) as well as other working capital
movements of EUR 39m. The latter include the development of trade and other
payables (EUR -194m), which was outweighed especially by trade and other
receivables (EUR 278m) primarily driven by silent factoring.
Consolidated net financial debt [9] amounted to EUR 3,213m as of 31 March
2022. The leverage ratio of 1.3x [10] remained well below the company's
self-defined upper limit of 2.5x and leaves comfortable leverage headroom
with regards to the company's BBB-rating with stable outlook by Fitch.
Financial outlook 2022
Telefónica Deutschland reiterates it FY22 outlook as published on 23
February 2022.
Baseline 2021 | Outlook 2022 [11] | Q1 21 | |
---|---|---|---|
Revenue | EUR 7,765m | low single digit percentage year-on-year growth | +5.2% y-o-y |
OIBDA Adjusted for exceptional effects | EUR 2,411m | low single digit percentage year-on-year growth, further margin expansion | +7.2% y-o-y |
Capex to Sales Ratio | 16.5% | 14-15% | 13.6% |
The Company has invited to its virtual annual general meeting on 19 May 2022
to resolve upon the dividend proposal of EUR 0.18 per share for the
financial year 2021. 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
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 Q1 22, exceptional effects amounted
to EUR -1m of restructuring costs (EUR -15m in Q1 21).
[2] Excluding MTR effects. MTR glidepath: EURc 0.78/min effective 1 Dec-20 /
EURc 0.70/min effective 1 Jul-21 / EURc 0.55 effective 1 Jan-22.
[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] MTR glidepath: EURc 0.78/min effective 1 Dec-20 / EURc 0.70/min
effective 1 Jul-21 / EURc 0.55 effective 1 Jan-22.
[5] Operating expenses include impairment losses in accordance with IFRS 9
in the amount of EUR 20m in Q1 22 (EUR 20m in Q1 21).
[6] Adjusted for exceptional effects. In Q1 22, exceptional effects amounted
to EUR -1m of restructuring costs (EUR -15m in Q1 21).
[7] 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.
[8] 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.
[9] 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.
[10] Leverage ratio is defined as net financial debt divided by OIBDA of the
last twelve months adjusted for exceptional effects.
[11] Including regulatory headwinds of ca. EUR -70 to -80 million at
revenues level and ca. EUR -15 to -20 million at OIBDA level.
11.05.2022 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a
service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements,
Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Archive at www.dgap.de
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: 1348713
MDAX TecDAX
End of News DGAP News Service
1348713 11.05.2022