Spanish operator Cellnex Telecom, Europe’s largest mobile towers company, reported revenues of EUR 1.76 billion in the first 9 months of 2021, up 59 percent year on year, with EBITDA rising 59 percent to EUR 1.33 billion after consolidating the numerous assets acquired last year and in the first few months of 2021, including France's Hivory. The company’s net loss widened by 73 percent to EUR 145 million in the same period due to the acquisitions and resulting geographic expansion coupled with amortisation costs that were 68 percent higher.
Cellnex said its net debt climbed to EUR 8.6 billion in the third quarter, from EUR 6.5 billion at the end of 2020, while its immediate liquidity stood at around EUR 14.3 billion at the end of September.However, the group’s continued growth allowed it to confirm year-end guidance of revenues in excess of EUR 2.5 billion and an EBITDA of over EUR 1.9 billion. It also reiterated its guidance for 2025 of an EBITDA in excess of EUR 3 billion and revenues above EUR 4 billion.
Turning to business lines, infrastructure services for mobile telecommunications operators contributed 86 percent of total income in the first 9 months of the year, amounting to EUR 1.52 billion, up 69 percent year on year, while broadcasting services and infrastructure contributed EUR 164 million, or 9 percent of income. Finally, the segment comprising the company’s security and emergency service networks as well as its smart cities business contributed EUR 77 million, or 3 percent of revenues in the January to September period. Cellnex committed to investments of around EUR 8.3 billion in the first 9 months of 2021, mostly related to incorporation of new assets, ongoing integration, the rollout of new infrastructure, plus improvements in the efficiency and maintenance of installed capacity.
The company said a total of 23 percent of its revenue now comes from the Spanish market, down from 25 percent in H1, with Italy still the company’s second largest market, accounting for 20 percent of group revenues, followed by France with 15 percent. In total the group had 89,327 operative sites at the end of September, more than double the year-earlier total and encompassing 4,490 in Austria, 1,360 in Denmark, 10,359 in Spain, 11,583 in France, 1,807 in Ireland, 20,033 in Italy, 4,065 in the Netherlands, 14,525 in Poland, 5,148 in Portugal, 7,996 in the UK, 2,610 in Sweden and 5,351 in Switzerland.
It also had a further 4,222 nodes (DAS and small cells), the latter up 30 percent year on year, with points of Presence (PoPs) up 6.5 percent year on year. Cellnex said it still intends to reach a total of 130,000 operative sites in 12 European countries by 2030 once its recent acquisitions are finalised.
Without providing a timeframe, Cellnex's chief executive Tobias Martinez subsequently suggested in a call with analysts that the company's portfolio could even reach around 200,000 sites once 5G is fully implemented thanks to further acquisitions, according to a Reuters report.
