Telefonica net profit falls 82% in Q4 on impairment charges

Telefonica reported net profit of EUR 473 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, down 82.3 percent from the year-earlier period. The result included an impairment charge of EUR 949 million on its stake in the Telco shareholding in Telecom Italia, a Telefonica Ireland impairment of EUR 513 million and the effect of the Venezuelan Bolivar devaluation, at EUR 417 million. OIBDA fell 8.6 percent to EUR 5.45 billion, and the margin was down 2.5 percent points to 34.4 percent. Revenues were down 2.0 percent to EUR 15.84 billion. 

After operating cash flow of EUR 5.912 billion in the fourth quarter, debt reduction accelerated. Net debt fell by EUR 4.75 billion over the three months to EUR 51.26 billion. Telefonica met its target for net debt of less than 2.46 times EBITDA, with a ratio of 2.36 at year-end. 

With annual revenues down 0.8 percent, the operator did not quite meet its target for flat sales in 2012, but Telefonica said it expects a return to revenue growth in 2013. The decline in EBITDA margin should also be smaller this year than last year's 1.9 percent point drop. 

Capex is forecast similar to last year's 14.2 percent of revenues, and net debt is expected to drop below EUR 47 billion by the end of 2013. Telefonica reiterated it will restore its cash dividend in 2013, at EUR 0.75 per share.