Back to Press Releases Telefónica Germany
30.07.2009

O2 increases operating result by 27 percent

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  • OIBDA rose to € 432 million in the first half year 2009
  • More than 15 million customers - 773,000 new customers in six months
  • Revenue in first half year increased to € 1.78 billion (+1.9 percent year on year)
MUNICH. Telefónica O2 Germany significantly increased its operating result (OIBDA) in the first half of the year 2009. In the first six months, the OIBDA generated by the company mounted to € 432 million - an increase of 27 percent compared with the previous year. Revenues from mobile telecommunications and DSL were raised to amount to € 1.78 billion (+1.9 percent). The number of mobile and DSL customers climbed by 773,000 to 15.2 million (+11 percent). Very successful was the new tariff offer O2 o, which has no monthly fee and fixed contract term.
"Our new offer O2 o substantially reduced the costs for acquiring new customers and increased our profitability", said André Krause, CFO of Telefónica O2 Germany. The OIBDA margin increased by 4.8 percentage points to 24.3 percent in the first six months. From the first to the second quarter, the increase in profitability once again augmented, Krause emphasized. The strong growth in customers proves the success of the strategy of O2 which is focused on more customer orientation, services and the consistent expansion of the network infrastructure. Increase in mobile data services Mobile data services via surf sticks and smart phones generated strong growth. "Every third new mobile data services customer opts for O2", Krause explained. Mobile data service revenues (excluding SMS) increased by one third in the first half of the year compared with the previous year and already account for 10 percent of the mobile service revenue. "Now, it pays off that we have invested in our own rapid data network", Krause emphasized. O2 spent almost € 2 billion in the network expansion in the last two years.
Telefónica O2 Germany results first half-year 2009
Number of customers and revenue With a total number of 15.2 million customers, Telefónica O2 Germany continued to expand its position as an integrated telecommunications provider in Germany. 7.2 million mobile customers held postpaid mobile telecommunication contracts and 7.7 million mobile customers held prepaid contracts. The number of O2 DSL customers increased to 253,000 - an increase by 53 percent compared with the previous year. In the wholesale business the number of unbundled DSL broadband connections (ULL) distributed by the partners United Internet, Hansenet as well as Freenet amounted to 1.3 million connections - a rise of 42 percent compared with the same figure of the previous year. The overall revenue increased by 1.9 percent to € 1.78 billion in the first half of the year. Accordingly, Telefónica O2 Germany was able to disconnect from the general economic slump. Based on the termination fees lowered by the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) the mobile services revenue slightly decreased to € 1.4 billion (minus 0.4 percent). Without this effect, the services revenue would have increased by 0.9 percent in the first half of the year compared with the same period of the previous year. The average monthly revenue per mobile customer (Average Revenue per User - ARPU) decreased to € 15.8 in the first half of the year (-11 percent compared with the same period of the previous year). The reasons for it were the reduction of the termination fees by the Federal Network Agency as well as the launch of new cheaper tariffs whose effect could not be fully offset by the increased revenues from the mobile internet. Growth based on customer satisfaction Telefónica O2 Germany continued to expand its own sales network by opening 76 new shops in the first half of the year. Today, there are more than 800 O2 shops in Germany. The company invested € 355 million in the six months, primarily in the network infrastructure and rapid mobile data technologies like UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA and EDGE. Already today, O2 operates one of the most modern and most rapid mobile telecommunication networks in Europe. Almost 90 percent of the population in Germany can today use the mobile broad band internet via EDGE and HSDPA in the O2 network. Voice services are provided almost fully across Germany. Customer satisfaction will continue to be the focus of the growth strategy. "With O2 o we understand that customers want freedom and need to be convinced by services", Krause emphasized. The offer without fixed contract term and monthly basic fee is focused on customer friendly and transparent tariffs. André Krause: "We want to free the telecommunications industry from teaser offers and the small print in the contract."
Telefónica O2 Germany GmbH & Co. OHG belongs to Telefónica Europe and is part of the Spanish telecommunication group Telefónica S.A. The Company offers its German private and business customers postpaid and prepaid mobile telecom products as well as innovative mobile data services based on the GPRS and UMTS technologies. In addition, the integrated communications provider also offers DSL fixed network telephony and high-speed internet. Telefónica Europe has nearly 48 million mobile and fixed network customers in Great Britain, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Germany.