Telefonica Earns 3,593 Million Euros Through June, Leaving It on ...

Tag : Flat Flexible Cable
MADRID--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Stripping out the impact of capital gains, net profit rose 29%year-on-year and EPS by 32.1% to 0.767 euros. The company hasallocated 2,993 million euros to shareholder remuneration. Results for the first half of 2008 were in line with the growthtargets for both the Group as a whole and for the differentgeographic areas (Spain, rest of Europe, and Latin America),leaving it on track to meet the financial targets announced for2008. Telef ó nica (NYSE: TEF - News ) (LSE: TDE - News ) posted strong growth in accesses across all of its business linesand regions and the total now exceeds 245 million (+15.2%). TheCompany ended June with 47 million accesses in Spain and 148million in Latin America, while its customer base in Europe stoodat 43 million. Organic growth in revenue remained at a healthy 6.7%, thanks to thevalue contributed by the Company's geographic and businessdiversification. Regionally, operations in Latin America showedstrong momentum, with a 12.2% increase, while in Spain and Europethe operator continued to set itself apart, with 2.1% and 6.2%growth, respectively. Organic growth in OIBDA and operating income (OI) acceleratedsharply in the first half of the year, to 12% and 24%,respectively. Figures highlighted Telef ó nica's strong financial position, with the Company reducing debt by1,311 million euros since December and leaving a net financial debtplus commitments/OIBDA ratio of 2.2x, in line with the Company'sgoals. Cash generation also gathered pace, with operating cash flow(OIBDA-CapEx) rising by 13.1% to 7,673 million euros. Year-on-year variations are skewed by the extraordinary incomeobtained in 2007 from divestments, the impact of exchange rates andchanges to the consolidation scope. If the effects of thesevariations are taken into account, revenue grew 1.2%, OIBDA fell1.3%; operating income advanced 0.7% and net profit dropped 6.2%.
Telef ó nica's results for the first half of the year show high growthrates, extending the positive performance seen since early thisyear. Once again in the second quarter, results benefited from theGroup's high geographical diversification and diversified servicesmix, as well as from the Company's unique abilities, allowing it toraise its profitability by streamlining costs and tapping synergiesstemming from the integrated management of its businesses and toset itself apart from its peers.
In line with this favourable business performance, the Company saysit is on track to meet its financial objectives for this year, bothat the Group level and in the different geographic areas. From acorporate standpoint, this means growth in revenue of +6/+8%, inOIBDA of +7,5/+11% and in OI of +13/+19%. These forecasts continueto be predicated on the comparison criteria 1 used when the targets were set established in February 2008.
During the first half of the year, the results for the Group andthose for Spain, Latin America and Europe have been affected, tovarying degrees, by exchange rates, changes in the consolidationscope (Telemig and TVA in Latin America, and Airwave and Endemol inEurope), the capital gains generated on the sales of Airwave andSogecable, and the change in the model applicable to public usetelephony service in Spain.
--245 million accesses--
Total accesses rose 15.2% compared to June 2007 to 245.1 million, due to the highcommercial activity recorded across markets. This growth wasunderpinned by the increase in wireless (+19%), broadband (+25.1%)and pay TV (+57.4%) accesses.
By type of access, Telef ó nica Group