Weekly news summary: BT suspends dividend, as O2 and Virgin Media UK plot a merger

Nieuws Algemeen Wereld 11 MAY 2020
Weekly news summary: BT suspends dividend, as O2 and Virgin Media UK plot a merger

Earnings news in the past week was more about changes to guidance than the results themselves, with the Covid-19 lockdowns setting in globally only in March. Companies with media exposure, including telecoms companies such as Nos, appear to be hurt more than others. BT stood out, as it suspended its dividend in favour of rolling out fibre networks. In other telecoms news, two more 5G networks commercially launched. The most important news of week 19 was the planned merger of O2 and Virgin Media in the UK.

Here is a summary of the most important news in telecoms (mostly Europe) and media/internet during week 19.

Telecoms - earnings reports

5G - Commercial launches

Telecoms - M&A and other news

Media and internet - earnings reports

Media and Internet - other news

Categories:

Algemeen

Companies:

O2,  Telia,  TIM,  AMC,  Electronic Arts,  Equinix,  FCC,  Freenet,  ITV,  Liberty Global,  Millicom,  Netia,  Nos,  Roku,  SES

Regions:

Wereld

Tags:

Market research

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WERELD 24 JUN 2020

QCT joins Open RAN Policy Coalition

Quanta Cloud Technology (QCT) said it joined the Open RAN Policy Coalition (ORPC). The new coalition aims to lobby the adoption of open and interoperable products in radio access networks (RAN). 

WERELD 11 MAY 2020

Nieuwsoverzicht week 19: kwartaalrapporten tonen impact corona, nieuwe JV's in VK en Scandinavie, koersverliezen lopen terug

Ook in week 19 overheerste het coronanieuws. Een geleidelijk ontspanning van de bewegingsbeperkingen zorgt voor een eerste voorzichtig herstel. Zo kunnen telecomwinkels en bioscopen weer open. Uit de eerstekwartaalcijfers en de guidance voor de rest van 2020 blijkt de impact van de crisis, die vooral groot is in de mediasector. De 5G-markt zag twee nieuwe toetreders en ook kwamen er twee grote joint ventures bij: een geconvergeerde operator in het VK en een televisiebedrijf in Scandinavië.

WERELD 8 MAY 2020

Digital Realty delivers virtually flat revenues, EBITDA in Q1

Data centre operator Digital Realty said revenues lifted 1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter to USD 823 million. The adjusted EBITDA meanwhile slid 1 percent lower to USD 482 million but the net profit improved to USD 203 million or USD 0.90 per diluted share, from 0.46 per share. Funds from operations (FFO) was almost unchanged at USD 212 million or USD 0.91 per share, from 1.92 per share. Core FFO slipped 12 percent to USD 1.53 per share.

VERENIGDE STATEN 8 MAY 2020

Roku Q1 revenue up 55% on customer gains, ARPU growth

Roku reported total net revenues up 55 percent year on year to USD 321 million in the first quarter of 2020, driven by customer additions and higher average revenue per user. The latter rose to USD 24.35 from USD 19.06 a year earlier, while incremental active accounts climbed by 2.9 million in Q1 alone to reach 39.8 million, up 37 percent year on year. Streaming hours also surged, by 1.6 billion in the first 3 months of the year, to reach a record 13.2 billion hours, up 49 percent from Q1 2019.

POLEN 8 MAY 2020

Netia revenue falls 1% in Q1, EBITDA holds steady

Revenues of Poland cable operator Netia totaled PLN 323 million in the first quarter of this year, down by 1 percent year-on-year from PLN 327 million. EBITDA at the company was stable at PLN 107 million and the EBITDA margin was 33.2 percent, up by 0.4 percentage points. Netia said it is still not feeling any major impact from the pandemic on its activities. 

ITALIË 8 MAY 2020

Intred revenues up 17% in Q1, adds another 300km of fibre

Intred, an Italian fixed-network operator based in the Lombardy region, said revenues grew 17 percent year on year to EUR 5.7 million in the first quarter of 2020 thanks mainly to a 31 percent rise in high-speed fixed broadband (FTTH and FTTC) revenues to EUR 3.4 million. The company added that it registered a particularly strong increase in demand for connectivity from new and old customers alike in March for home working prompted by the coronavirus outbreak, a trend that's likely to continue for the rest

EUROPA 8 MAY 2020

Cellnex sales up 49% to EUR 358 mln in Q1 following asset acquisitions

Spanish operator Cellnex Telecom, Europe's largest mobile towers company, reported revenues of EUR 358 million in the first quarter of 2020, up 49 percent year on year, with EBITDA surging 64 percent to EUR 260 million. Both figures were strongly impacted by the series of asset acquisitions made in 2019 in France and Italy (Iliad), Switzerland (Salt), the UK (BT), Ireland (Cignal) and Spain (Orange), as well as the purchase of OMTEL in Portugal, which closed on 02 January 2020.

PORTUGAL 7 MAY 2020

Nos posts Q1 loss as Covid-19 hurts sports income

Nos registered a loss of EUR 10.4 million in the first quarter of 2020, hurt by business restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in Portugal, compared to a net profit of EUR 42.5 million in the same period of 2019. The contribution of associated companies deteriorated significantly, registering losses of EUR 8.8 million, with a negative contribution from SportTV and Zap. The greatest impact was felt in revenue from premium channels such as Sport TV, BTV and Eleven Sports, which were made available to c

VERENIGD KONINKRIJK 7 MAY 2020

BT increases fibre network build target, suspends dividends on Covid-19 impact

BT Group has announced a rapid acceleration of its FTTP network build, setting a new target of reaching 20 million premises by mid-to-late-2020s, with a significant build in rural areas. This will be supported by a GBP 12 billion investment spend. The announcement was made as BT reported revenue of GBP 22.90 billion for the year to 31 March 2020, down 2 percent (reported basis) on the impact of regulation, declines in legacy products, strategic reductions in low-margin business and divestments. 

WERELD 7 MAY 2020

SES posts 2% fall in underlying revenues, 3% EBITDA drop in Q1

Satellite operator SES has reported underlying revenues of EUR 470.8 million in the first quarter, down 2.2 percent year-on-year at constant currency (-3.1% in Q4). The contraction was due to the ongoing negative performance of the Video Distribution and Video Services business lines (-8.2% and -6.7% respectively), which generated EUR 281.9 million in the quarter. This was only partly offset by growing Networks revenues, which rose 7.7 percent (+3.1% in Q4) to reach EUR 188.9 million, or 40 percent of under

WERELD 7 MAY 2020

Equinix lifts profit, revenues in Q1 but still sees uncertainty ahead

Data centre operator Equinix reported first quarter results just shy of expectations, pulled down by negative forex effects. The company did make some key customer additions, including Hurrican Electric, TikTok and Zoom. It noted a peak increase in traffic of 44 percent at its Equinix Internet Exchange year-on-year, as the coronavirus epidemic pushed people to work and study from home. The company also expects to push non-recurring capex for the full-year up to USD 2 billion.

WERELD 7 MAY 2020

Veon withdraws guidance as results turn lower in April

Veon reported a small increase in organic revenue in the first quarter of 0.3 percent, while EBITDA fell 1.8 percent on the same base. The company said organic revenues and EBITDA turned lower in April due to pressure on results from the Covid-19 pandemic, and Veon withdrew its previous guidance for 2020 results due to the uncertain outlook. 

EUROPA 7 MAY 2020

Liberty Global posts small drop in organic revenues, cash flow in Q1

Liberty Global reported a loss of 18,900 fixed customers in the first quarter, worse than the 1,700 shed a year earlier due to difficulties in the Swiss and Belgian markets. This was offset somewhat by ARPU growth and positive forex effects, helping the company increase revenues from continuing operations 0.3 percent year-on-year to USD 2.88 billion. Operating profit more than doubled, to USD 281 million from USD 106 million a year ago, thanks to lower depreciation and stock option costs. 

SPANJE 7 MAY 2020

Telefonica says limited impact from Covid-19 as Q1 organic revenues fall 1%

Telefonica said it has seen limited impact on results so far from the Covid-19 pandemic, with the negative effects largely offset by positive effects elsewhere. Nevertheless the company has withdrawn its financial guidance for 2020 due to the uncertain economic climate and said it will make its next two dividend payments in stock, while it focuses on maintaining stable operating cash flow. 

VERENIGD KONINKRIJK 7 MAY 2020

Liberty Global, Telefonica to merge O2, Virgin Media in 50-50 joint venture in UK

Liberty Global and Telefonica have reached an agreement to merge their UK operations in a 50-50 joint venture. This brings together the country's largest mobile operator O2 UK with cable operator Virgin Media and its MVNO Virgin Mobile. 

Just In

19 DEC 16:42

SLT-Mobitel launches 5G network in Sri Lanka

19 DEC 16:19

Dialog Axiata launches 5G network, connects 1.5 million subscribers

19 DEC 15:56

UK govt to ban AI-enabled nudification apps to protect women, girls

19 DEC 15:42

3 UK launches last-minute Christmas sale

Commentary

13:56

Video market set for slower growth ahead

11:38

Netflix buys Warner Bros to deepen content catalogue

11:11

KPN's mixed performance in Q3 raises questions for strategy day

15:26

Stock markets breaking records but what happened to Odido's IPO plans?

Background

01:04

The week in telecom: Wi-Fi bolt-ons take off to boost broadband growth, video market works on consolidation

01:39

The week in telecom: Netflix wins bidding for Warner Bros, Apple poaches new execs, Samsung debuts trifold

13:51

Proximus vs. Telenet: Proximus performs better in Q3 while Telenet uses up cash

14:16

Proximus Domestic still struggling with low margins

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