The UK Court of Appeal has dismissed a demand from Three which blocked the new frequencies auction (planned for Autumn 2017), in turn blocking Telefonica’s share sale of O2. This is positive news for Telefónica as it means that it eliminates a practical hurdle for the company to be able to carry out the O2 share sale in the UK, raising funds to cut its debt.
While the telecoms sector (mainly represented by Telefónica) is very attractive for investors, “looming pressure on returns” is clouding investor interest in the utilities.
Telefonica has informed the Stock Market Regulator (CNMV) that it has reached an agreement with the Colombian government to hike capital for a total of €1.840 billion at its affiliate operating in the country, which is one of the main ones in the group. The reason for the capital increase is the debt the parent company has with the company which manages the pension funds.
Telefónica is continuing with its plans for cutting group debt – estimated at 50 billion euros – by divesting stakes in some of its subsidiaries and ruling out any major new acquisitions. On the one hand, the company is still preparing to list a minority stake in its UK mobile subsidiary O2 towards year-end, on the other they are considering to sell Telefonica Argentina.
Telefonica’s Movistar has informed its clients that from June 15 it will put an end to the roaming surcharges for all its tariffs across Europe. This means that all clients with a contract, or prepaid or Fusion will have the same tariffs as they do in Spain when they travel to the EU, Iceland, Norway or Liechtenstein.
The CNMV and the government have been trying for years to get the big companies and Spanish banks to issue debt in Spain. But despite some reforms having been made, Spanish companies continue to head for Europe and even farther afield to ask investors for money.
Telefonica’s net profit rose 42.2% to 779 million euros in the first quarter of 2017 from a year earlier. The 2016 results were reformulated mid-last year after the group decided to stop presenting its UK subsidiary O2 as a discontinued operation. Revenues from its Brazil and Latin American operations were the main earnings driver.
Telefónica’s share price has made a strong recovery so far this year and is now trading around 10,3 euros, meaning it has gained no less than 31% from last year’s minimum levels. New executive chairman Jose María Álvarez-Pallete has played a big part in this comeback.
Telefonica has reached an agreement with Vodafone which will allow the latter to access its fibre optic network both in non-regulated areas (the 66 most populated cities in which Telefonica is not obliged to share its infrastructure) as well as in a significant part of the regulated zones.
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.