French operator Bouygues Telecom generated fourth-quarter service revenues of EUR 1.26 billion, up 4.7 percent year-on-year (+5.3% in Q3). The fixed segment kept its momentum (+9%) and sales from mobile services also maintained their growth trend (+3%), despite the EUR 33 million negative impact of roaming caused by the pandemic. Overall revenues amounted to EUR 1.76 billion, rising 8.0 percent on Q4 2019 (+7.9% in Q3).
Fourth-quarter EBITDAaL increased 5.0 percent to EUR 379 million, while current operating profit progressed 32.6 percent to EUR 179 million.
The operator slightly exceeded its full-year revenue growth target, which was revised upwards to 5-6 percent in November. Growth was 6.3 percent on 2019, based on revenues worth EUR 6.44 billion in 2020.
Annual free cash flow contracted to EUR 254 million from EUR 301 million a year earlier, in line with the operator’s revised guidance (EUR 250 million down from 'over EUR 300 million' originally). Full-year gross capex rose to EUR 1.27 billion from EUR 940 million in 2019, slightly higher that the updated forecast of EUR 1.25 billion issued in November. Over the same period, current operating profit rose 15.4 percent to EUR 623 million.
Commenting on the recent acquisition of MVNO Euro-Information Telecom (EIT), the company said that the transaction was completed on 31 December. EIT achieved sales of around EUR 550 million in 2020 and had a workforce of approximately 150 employees. Across an MVNO customer base of 2.1 million, the average billing per user amounted to EUR 15.30/month across 2020.
For 2021, Bouygues is expecting organic growth in service revenues of around 5 percent. EBITDAaL (including EIT) should also rise by around 5 percent, while net capital expenditure is forecast to increase to EUR 1.3 billion, excluding 5G frequencies.
In terms of customers, the operator closed 2020 with 12.15 million postpaid connections (excluding EIT), representing a net increase of 150,000 since September (+181,000 in Q3). Fixed broadband net additions improved to 110,000 (+64,000 in Q3) for a total base of 4.16 million. In the fibre segment, FTTP net additions reached a new high of 226,000 (+169,000 in Q3), bringing overall FTTP subscriptions to 1.60 million at end-December.
