OIBDA rose 6.8 percent to EUR 3.702 billion, driven by synergies in Germany, while the margin fell to 31.2 percent from 32.8 percent a year ago due to the consolidation of GVT and DTS from May. On an organic basis, excluding currency effects, revenues rose 4.4 percent and OIBDA was up 3.3 percent. Net profit jumped 70.4 percent to EUR 1.891 billion, after O2 UK was classified as discontinued activities ahead of the planned sale to Hutchison Whampoa.
Telefonica adjusted its full-year outlook to take account of the acquisitions and now expects revenue growth of at least 9.5 percent versus over 7 percent growth previously. The OIBDA margin is now expected to fall by around 1.2 percent points, versus an earlier estimate of 1 point, due to the lower margins at DTS and GVT.
The company still expects capital expenditure at around 17 percent of revenues for the full year, compared to 14.8 percent in the first half. In the first six months of 2015, capex jumped 66.4 percent, or 12.3 percent on an organic basis excluding currency effects, to EUR 5.094 billion, due mainly to spectrum acquisitions in Germany and Argentina. This led to a 40.9 percent fall in first-half operating cash flow to EUR 2.226 billion. Net debt is expected to fall to less than 2.35 times EBITDA at year-end after the sale of O2 UK. At the end of June, net debt was at 2.92x, or 2.38 if the expected proceeds from O2 are included.
Telefonica finished June with 253.6 million mobile subscribers, up 12 percent from a year earlier and 3 percent more on an organic basis. Compared to the end of March, it added a net 844,000 new customers. Smartphone penetration reached 41 percent of customers, up 11 percent points year-on-year, and rose to 65 percent of postpaid customers. This helped organic mobile data revenue growth accelerate to 17.3 percent year-on-year in Q2, up 5 percentage points versus the first quarter, and data now accounts for 42 percent of total mobile service revenue. Non-SMS data revenue growth rose to 26.6 percent in the quarter and accounted for 82 percent of total data revenue. Almost 8 percent of customers were using LTE in Q2, and LTE represented 13 percent of total data traffic.
In the fixed broadband market, customer numbers rose by 17.8 percent year-on-year to 20.755 million, driven by the takeover of GVT. Fibre subscribers more than doubled compared to March, to 5.444 million from 2.063 million. In fixed telephony, the customer base reached 40.165 million at the end of June, versus 36.220 million three months earlier. The pay-TV base also nearly doubled, to 8.030 million from 5.467 million in March, thanks to the acquisitions of GVT and DTS.
