Telefonica published its Q219 results. According to Bankinter market watchers, they are slightly better than expected: Income +0% to 12.142 Bn€ vs 11.981 Bn€ expected by the consensus. Operational profits -12% to 1.802 Bn€ vs 1.755 Bn€. Net profits -4.5% to 862 M€ vs 880 M€. Net debt 40.230 Bn€ vs 40 Bn€.
Telefonica posted profit of 2.369 billion euros in 2016, up 3.8% from a year earlier. Last year’s figure reflected non-recurrent items, mainly a 1.290 billion euros charge in the fourth quarter related to restructuring costs. Excluding that charge, profits rose 4.8% to 4.038 billion euros year-on-year.
Telefonica’s stock price held up much better than expected after the multinational announced it will cut its dividend this year and next. The shares finally closed down 1% after falling as much as 4% in the first few hours of the session. It seems that investors have understood that, on the one hand, it is the company’s best option for reducing debt; and, on the other, that the dividend yield is still very attractive.
MADRID | The Corner | February 25, 2015 | Spanish telecom giant Telefonica reported a drop of 34.7% in net profit, although investors celebrated revenue picture brightening up. Elsewhere, the Spanish Producer Price Index falls again, registering a drop of 2.8% for January.