Telefonica reported third-quarter sales down 9.5 percent year-on-year to EUR 14.06 billion, hurt by negative currency effects in Latin America and weak markets in Europe. On on organic basis, excluding forex and divestments, revenues rose 2.1 percent, an improvement compared to 0.5 percent growth in Q2 and a 1.6 percent decline in Q1. The company recorded 10.9 percent organic growth in Latin America and a 7.1 percent fall in Europe.
OIBDA declined 12.6 percent to EUR 4.68 billion, and the margin dropped 1.2 percent points to 33.3 percent. Net profit was down 21 percent from a year ago to EUR 1.09 billion or EUR 0.24 per share.
In the first nine months of the year, Telefonica increased capex 5.6 percent to EUR 6.02 billion, in part due to spectrum acquisitions, leading to a 19.9 percent fall in operating cash flow to EUR 8.08 billion. The company still met its debt reduction target one quarter early, reaching net debt of EUR 46.0 billion at the end of September, for leverage of 2.30 times EBITDA. Telefonica said it had refinanced more than EUR 10 billion in debt in the past year and was covered for repayments in the next two years.
At the end of the period, Telefonica had 320.3 million access lines, up 2 percent from a year earlier. Latin America accounted for 68 percent of the total. Mobile net additions improved to 2.1 million in the three months to September, for a total 252.2 million. Some 27 percent of 67.4 million mobile customers also used mobile broadband, an increase of 41 percent year-on-year. Telefonica said added over 15 million smartphone users in the first nine months of 2013.
