Telefonica 1Q20 revenues drop 5.1% to EUR11.4 billion

Telefonica Group has reported revenues of EUR11.4 billion (USD12.3 billion) for the three months ended 31 March 2020, down 5.1% on an annualised basis. The Spanish group’s first quarter activity was impacted by its Latin American subsidiaries: Telefonica Brasil (Vivo) saw its top-line drop 13.6% year-on-year, to EUR2.2 billion, while revenues for Telefonica Hispam (encompassing the group’s other Latin American businesses) declined 8.4% y-o-y, to EUR2.2 billion.

Elsewhere, Telefonica Deutschland and Telefonica UK (O2) generated sales of EUR1.8 billion (up 3.8%) and EUR1.7 billion (up 2.9%), respectively, while domestic unit Telefonica Espana (Movistar) recorded a 1.6% decrease in first quarter sales, to EUR3.1 billion. Group OIBDA for the first quarter dropped 11.8% to EUR3.8 billion, while net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company was reported at EUR406 million, down 56.2% on an annualised basis.

In operational terms, Telefonica reported consolidated mobile accesses of 260.435 million at 31 March 2020, alongside 20.519 million broadband users, 30.349 million fixed telephony accounts and 8.287 million pay-TV subscribers.

Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete, executive chairman at Telefonica, commented: ‘Telefonica is not immune to this crisis, but it is resilient. The crisis has had a limited impact on our first quarter financial results. Our four key markets have performed well in a unique and challenging environment. Lower revenues from roaming, prepaid and business customers were partially compensated by lower commercial costs and lower customer churn.’

―Comms Update