Spanish operator Cellnex Telecom, Europe’s largest mobile towers company, reported revenues up 41 percent year on year to EUR 506 million in the first quarter of 2021 thanks above all to the addition of new assets in markets such as France, the Netherlands and Poland. EBITDA was up 47 percent year on year to EUR 381 million after consolidating its recent acquisitions but the company’s first-quarter net loss widened to EUR 43 million, attributed to the effect of higher amortisations (up 91% year on year) and financial costs (up 34%) associated with the group’s growth and geographical expansion.
Cellnex said infrastructure services for mobile telecommunications operators contributed 84 percent of total income in the first 3 months of 2021, EUR 426 million in total and up 56 percent year on year, while broadcasting services and infrastructure contributed EUR 55 million, or 11 percent of revenues. The segment comprising the company’s security and emergency service networks as well as its smart cities business contributed EUR 26 million, or 7 percent of revenues from January to March.
Around 74 percent of revenues and 81 percent of EBITDA are now generated from outside the Spanish market, with Italy still the company’s second largest market, accounting for 18 percent of group revenues. In total Cellnex had 68,350 operative sites at the end of March (4,470 in Austria, 1,322 in Denmark, 10,550 in France, 1,781 in Ireland, 10,634 in Italy, 924 in the Netherlands, 7,428 in Poland, 5,081 in Portugal, 10,329 in Spain, 2,520 in Sweden, 5,315 in Switzerland and 7,996 in the UK), plus a further 3,373 nodes (DAS and small cells), the latter up 40 percent year on year. Points of Presence (PoPs) grew 5.5 percent year on year while the customer ratio per site remained at 1.46.
Looking ahead, Cellnex confirmed its full-year outlook of revenues between EUR 2.405 billion and EUR 2.445 billion, EBITDA between EUR 1.815 billion and EUR 1.855 billion, coupled with a 50 percent growth in recurring levered free cash flow (EUR 905-925 million). The company added that a dividend of EUR 0.0174 per share would be paid out on 17 June.
