Telefonica reported annual revenues up 3.2 percent on an organic basis and OIBDA rose 1.9 percent, meeting the company's outlook for around 2 percent growth in 2019. Net debt also fell for an 11th consecutive quarter and was down 8 percent over the year to EUR 37.7 billion. For 2020, the Spanish operator forecast stable revenues, OIBDA and operating cash flow as a percentage of revenue.
The company also maintained its growth targets issued at the investors meeting in November. Telefonica proposed a dividend of EUR 0.40 per share for the year and said it expects to pay the same for 2020.
In 2019, revenues fell 0.6 percent on a reported basis to EUR 48.4 billion, hurt by currency effects in South America and divestments in Central America, and OIBDA declined 2.9 percent to EUR 15.1 billion. The OIBDA margin was down 0.8 percent points to 31.2 percent. Annual net profit fell 66 percent to EUR 1.1 billion, with a loss of EUR 202 million in Q4.
Capital expenditure rose 8.0 percent to EUR 8.8 billion, including EUR 1.5 billion on spectrum, leading to a 15 percent fall in operating cash flow to EUR 6.3 billion.
Q4 revenues up organic 2.0%
In the fourth quarter, revenues fell 4.0 percent to EUR 12.4 billion. On an organic basis, revenues were up 2.0 percent, supported by 1.2 percent higher services revenues and 6.8 percent growth in handset sales. OIBDA rose 3.8 percent to EUR 3.7 billion, helped by the IFRS 16 accounting standards, and increased 4.0 percent on an organic basis.
Operating costs were down 3.3 percent on an organic basis in Q4, while Telefonica also booked EUR 266 million in restructuring costs, mainly for job cuts, EUR 208 million in impairment charges and EUR 220 million in profits from asset sales. The workforce fell by 3.7 percent over the year to 117,347.
Customers down 3.4%
Telefonica ended the year with 344.3 million customer accesses, down 3.4 percent from 2018. Mobile customers were also down by 3.4 percent over the year and decreased by around 0.9 million in Q4 to 261.5 million, and broadband customers dropped 3.7 percent year-on-year and by 426,000 in Q4 to 20.8 million.
The group's FTTx/cable network totalled 127.8 million premises passed at year-end, including 55.7 million on its owned network, up 10 percent from 2018. Retail connected customers were up 8.0 percent over the year to 14.3 million.
The company also improved LTE coverage by 2 percent points to 79 percent in 2019, including 96 percent in Europe and 73 percent in Latin America.
