News
Mexican operator posts broadly solid financials for Q3 on the back of postpaid customer growth
America Movil posted a strong set of financials for the third quarter, buoyed by the acquisition of postpaid mobile customers in its major LatAm markets, while increasing stability in the region helped offset its usual currency headwinds.
The Mexico-based operator posted 7.7% growth in EBITDA for the three months to the end of September to 71.8 billion pesos (€3.3 billion), or 13% growth at constant exchange rates. Earnings growth was boosted to the tune of around one percentage point by the release of certain provisions linked to a tax case its Claro unit won in Brazil, the telco explained.
Its bottom line looked healthy at MXN18.6 billion, up from MXN2.5 billion.
Revenues rose by 2.1% to MXN249.2 billion; growth of 3.4% at constant rates equates to the telco’s best performance in five quarters, it explained, noting that the strongest growth came from the mobile postpaid segment at 8.6%.
America Movil added 1.1 million postpaid customers in Q3, including 472,000 in Brazil, 184,000 in Mexico and 100,000 in Colombia. Overall its postpaid base grew by 7.6% on Q2.
Brazil and Mexico saw strong growth in mobile service revenue at 10.% and 9.5% respectively, while ARPUs were up by 13% and 8%.
The firm also reported solid ARPU growth of 11% in the U.S. as its customer base there contracted by close to 2 million over 12 months to 21.8 million.
The operator’s European mobile customer base, served via Telekom Austria, rose slightly to 21.1 million, but again its customer mix improved, with postpaid customers growing by 4.9% on-year to 16.1 million; quarterly postpaid net adds reached 247,000.
Telekom Austria’s revenues grew by 1.3% to €1.1 billion, but EBITDA slipped by 2.1% to €390 million, causing a margin contraction.
