Telecom Italia reported full-year revenues down 7.8 percent to EUR 21.57 billion, a slight improvement on the previous year's fall of 9.1 percent. In a statement setting out its preliminary results to coincide with the launch of its 2015-2017 business plan, the company said its EBITDA for the year fell 7.9 percent to EUR 8.79 billion, while the EBITDA margin remained stable at 40.7 percent (40.8 percent in 2013). Net debt was reduced by EUR 156 million to EUR 26.65 billion, including the impact of the EUR 0.9 billion spent on spectrum acquisition in Brazil and Argentina. Capex increased by EUR 584 million to EUR 4.98 billion, including the purchase of frequencies in the 700 MHz band in Brazil.
Telecom Italia said the recovery of its revenue performance in Italy continued thanks mainly to improvements in its fixed and mobile businesses. Full-year sales fell 6.6 percent to EUR 15.30 billion, compared to a 9.6 percent decline the previous year. EBITDA dropped to EUR 6.99 billion compared to the previous year’s EUR 7.74 billion, while capex came in at EUR 2.78 billion compared to EUR 3.03 billion in 2013. Telecom Italia’s mobile unit TIM reported service revenues of EUR 5.09 billion for the year, down 8.7 percent from the previous year's result of EUR 5.58 billion. Wireline revenues dropped 6.7 percent to EUR 10.99 billion compared to EUR 11.79 billion in 2013.
TIM ended the year with a total customer base of 30.35 million, down 2.8 percent on 2013. ARPU fell 7.2 percent to EUR 12.1 from EUR 13.0 at the end of 2013. Handset sales remained particularly strong, however, improving by 9.3 percent from a year earlier to EUR 483 million. The operator said it had covered around 80 percent of the population with 4G technology by the end of the year, reaching the year-end target of its 2014-2016 plan well in advance of schedule. TIM had 1.3 million 4G customers at 31 December.
In the fixed-line segment, Telecom Italia’s total customer base fell 5.5 percent year on year to 12.48 million. However, retail broadband subscribers were up 0.1 percent to 6.92 million and broadband ARPU rose to EUR 20.1 from EUR 19.2 at the end of 2013 thanks to the continued increase in premium customers (fibre and fast ADSL). The company had a total of 231,000 fibre customers at the end of 2014. Telecom Italia remains interested in buying a controlling stake in Milan-based broadband operator Metroweb, but talks are said to have stalled due to disagreements over the ownership structure.
