Telefónica España and trade unions, UGT and CCOO, signed an agreement on Tuesday to extend their Collective Bargaining Agreement, which was due to end this year, until 31 December 2022. The extension includes a 1% wage increase and a bonus of 300 euros to be received in October 2022. The agreement will also serve to consolidate Telefónica España’s new ways of working, with two voluntary teleworking days a week for…
In 2011, Telefónica’s liabilities exceeded 56 billion euros. Today, however, after the latest operations (the merger agreement for its business in the United Kingdom, the sale of towers to American Tower…) it has cut its leverage by a further 8.4 billion euros and reduced it to less than half, at 26 billion. Although this amount is starting to become more manageable for the group, the most critical operators point out…
Telefonica presented today its results for the first quarter of the year: revenues fell by -9% to 10.34 billion, as did EBITDA, which fell to 3.417 billion (-9.1%), which did not prevent it from doubling net profit, which rose 116% to 886 million (FacSet analysts’ consensus expected 500 million in profit), representing a margin of 8.6% vs. the 3.6% margin in the first quarter of last year.
T.C. | The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s competition regulator, has provisionally cleared the merger of O2, Telefónica’s UK mobile subsidiary, and Virgin, the cable group controlled by US-based Liberty Global, into a company – 50% owned by the two partners – valued by the market at around 45 billion euros (more than £38 billion) and which will become, along with BT, the UK market leader. If BT has 46.3 million customers, the new company will have 46.5 million (32.6 million mobile, 5.3 million fixed broadband, 4.9 million fixed voice and 3.7 million pay TV).
Telefónica has been awarded 40 MHz blocks in the 3.6 GHz band and 20 MHz in the 700 MHz band in the latest spectrum auction in the UK. This is the second one held in that country to accelerate the deployment of the new mobile technology. To do so, it has had to pay £448 M (near €532 M). This amount is much lower than initially estimated by the market, which had calculated that Telefónica’s investment in new spectrum in the UK would amount to £700 million (approximately €820 M).
The telecom operators Movistar, Orange and Vodafone have agreed to form an alliance to bid together for the deployment of 4G and 5G mobile networks in rural areas that will be financed with European reconstruction funds. Specifically, Movistar, Vodafone and Orange would build between 3,000 and 4,500 new radio sites, adding an extra 15% and 23% to the existing ones.
Upon completion of the transaction, Telefónica and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec will each hold 50% in FiBrasil under a co-control governance model. Telefónica Group’s 50% participation will be held through Telefônica Brazil (“Vivo”) and Telefónica Infra, the infrastructure arm of Telefónica Group, each holding a stake of 25%. Operating as a neutral wholesale company, FiBrasil is set to deploy and operate fibre-optic networks in selected mid-sized cities across Brazil outside the state of Sao Paulo.
Telefónica’s board of directors has cut the dividend payable in 2021, which will now be made in two payments of 0.15 eur/share in June and December (previously 0.20 eur/share), while the “scrip” option is maintained. The first payment of 0.15 eur/share will be in December 2021. Telefónica’s Executive Chairman, José María Álvarez-Pallete, has defended the reduction of the company’s dividend, which he considers to be an appropriate price as it maintains a very high dividend yield compared to the Ibex and the sector as a whole.
Telefónica and Liberty Global reached an agreement in early May last year to merge their UK businesses and create the market-leading fixed and mobile operator in the country. According to the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the combination of Telefónica subsidiary and Virgin could lead to higher prices for wholesale fiber and mobile services. Thus they announced an investigation into the merger and its possible consequences before giving the go-ahead to the deal.
Renta 4 | Telefónica announced today that it has signed an agreement with American Tower to sell Telxius’ tower business in Europe (Spain, Germany) and LatAm (Brazil, Peru, Chile and Argentina). The price of the deal is 7.7 billion euros, payable in cash. It includes the sale of some 30,722 sites to be carried out in two separate operations. Although American Tower still has little exposure in Europe (some 30,000 towers after the Telxius purchase), it represents the main threat to the leadership position of another Spanish company, Cellnex, with over 103.000 sites