America Movil posted a 2.2 percent drop in third-quarter revenues to MXN 244 billion, hurt by the natural disasters in Mexico, Puerto Rico and the US. Service revenues fell 1.9 percent, but were up 1.5 percent at constant exchange rates.
Adjusted EBITDA fell 2.1 percent to MXN 18.5 billion. This excludes costs of MXN 18.5 billion for an arbitrage ruling in Colombia. The lower underlying EBITDA reflects more than revenues the impact of the natural disasters in Mexico and Puerto Rico, due to the expenses incurred, the company said.
The net result was a loss of MXN 9.5 billion, versus a profit of MXN 2.1 billion a year ago, hurt by forex losses after the depreciation of the Mexican peso versus the US dollar and the euro. Excluding the Colombian ruling, the company would have had a net profit of MXN 2.5 billion.
Net debt ended September at MXN 575.1 billion, down from MXN 629.7 billion in December 2016. This was equivalent to 2.0 times adjusted EBITDA. Capital expenditures totaled MXN 84.3 billion in the first nine months of the year.
America Movil finished the quarter with 363 million access lines, with fixed RGUs increasing 0.5 percent and mobile subscriptions down 1.3 percent. Net subscriber additions for the third quarter came in at 330,000. The postpaid mobile base grew by 1.4 million (including 699,000 in Brazil and 202,000 in Mexico), but the operator lost just over 1 million prepaid customers.
On the fixed market, broadband accesses were up 5.0 percent year-on-year after 345,000 new connections in the quarter, mostly in Brazil, Central America and Colombia. The pay-TV subscriber base was down 1.4 percent annually and lost 50,000 subscribers in the quarter.
