Telefónica closed the first quarter of the year with revenue growth of 6.7 percent, reaching 10,045 million euros, but withdrew from profitability by 57.9 percent after reaching a total of 298 million euros. This is explained by “extraordinary” concepts such as a 200 million euro capital gain in Colombia, concepts related to Virgin Media O2, and the payment of corporate taxes.

In the first report of the year, good operating performance in different key markets was consolidated, apart from that according to Hispam, which continues to see its exposure diminish while seeking a horizon of stability.

Between January and March 2023, Telefónica added 383.6 million subscribers, four percent more than the year-over-year comparison. They highlight the 16 percent growth in fiber access and seven percent postpaid services.

Regarding the fiber optic business, operators already have nearly 169 million homes passed with this technology, four percent more than any other year. Of this total, 66.6 million are connected via Telefónica’s own fiber network, this is 15 percent more than between January and March 2022.

Regarding 5G, the company already has the service available in four main markets, and Brazil is the first to have a stand alone (SA) version since the beginning of this year with that version. stand-alone, an evolution that will materialize throughout the year in the UK, Germany and Spain. As of March, the 5G network has covered more than 2,100 locations in the UK, over 82 per cent of the population in Germany and 85 per cent of Spain, as well as 58 cities in Brazil.

Spain increased its revenue by 0.3 percent, up to 3.088 million euros, and represented 27 percent of total revenue. Germany grew by eight percent, to 2.101 million euros, and accounted for 18 percent of global turnover. Brazil rose 17.5 percent to 2.282 million euros, an amount equivalent to 20 percent of the company’s total sales. Great Britain continues to increase its organic growth rate, up to 2.947 million euros, which is 13 percent of revenue. And, finally, Hispam continues to progress in its goal of achieving a modulated and sustainable exposure to the region, the operator explains: it recorded a turnover of 2,238 million euros, an amount representing 19 percent of the global total.

OIBDA reached 3.121 million euros, a fact that allows it to achieve a stable and constant level thanks to revenue growth and focus on efficiency, regardless of the inflationary environment.

In this case, the exchange rate ended up being profitable for another quarter, with a positive contribution to the group’s revenue of 136 million euros and 47 million euros in the case of the OIBDA.

Telefónica Tech is a business unit that increased its revenue exponentially, around 43.5 percent in the first quarter, to reach 429 million euros. On the debt side, operators continued to lower it, now at 3.5 percent to settle at 26,443 million euros. The company assures that, with this perspective, it has covered its maturity over the next three years, with more than 80 percent of debt at a fixed rate and an average maturity of 13.2 years.

Telefónica Infra, meanwhile, continues to strengthen its position thanks to the creation of value-added services and promoting new fiber infrastructure models. Telxius, the undersea cable business, saw reported revenue increases of 8.4 percent and 10.4 percent in the case of OIBDA, which grew for five consecutive quarters.

“We have started this year strong, despite the great challenges from the global economic environment. We continued to execute our strategic plan and added a quarter of accelerated revenue growth in all regions where Telefónica has a presence. For all these reasons, we are on the right track to meet our financial targets for the year as a whole, and we can also ensure the expected dividend for 2023. Telefónica continues to fulfill its debt reduction commitments and continues to strengthen its balance sheet thanks to its ability to anticipate ”, convinced José María Álvarez-Pallete, president of Telefónica, during the conference where the results were announced.

In this presentation, emphasis was also placed on corporate transformation and the pursuit of achieving environmental, social and governance milestones aimed at decarbonizing the economy through digitization. For this reason, he emphasized the decision to shut down the copper network, which was announced a few weeks ago, and the determination to move forward in the development and use of renewable energy. In fact, in Brazil, three new distributed power plants were commissioned during this period, totaling 51 of the 85 planned for this purpose.

On the social goal side, he reaffirmed his commitment to continue deploying 4G and 5G and fiber to connect people through technology, while at the same time intensifying connectivity access assistance through social tariffs.