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German incumbent beats adjusted EBITDA guidance; T-Mobile US accounts for 42% of group revenue.
Deutsche Telekom on Thursday raised its full-year dividend after revenue surged 10.5% and adjusted EBITDA topped its guidance.
The German incumbent generated revenue of €69.23 billion in 2015, up from €62.66 billion in 2014. The strength of the U.S. dollar versus the euro meant adjusted EBITDA jumped 13.3% year-on-year to €19.91 billion, beating the telco’s guidance of €18.3 billion.
Net profit came in at €3.25 billion, up from €2.92 billion in 2014.
Deutsche Telekom’s revenue growth was driven primarily by T-Mobile US, which saw full-year revenue grow 29.1% on 2014 to €28.93 billion, accounting for 41.8% of group revenue. Revenue in Germany edged up 0.7% to €22.42 billion, while the rest-of-Europe division saw revenue fall 2% to €12.72 billion. Revenue at T-Systems fell 0.1% year-on-year to €8.59 billion.
"Deutsche Telekom was extremely successful on both sides of the Atlantic in 2015," said Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges, in a statement.
For the fourth quarter, revenue increased to €17.86 billion from €17 billion in the same period a year earlier, while adjusted EBITDA surged 15.7% to €5.14 billion.
"Based on the results achieved, the board of management and supervisory board will propose to the shareholders’ meeting on May 25 a dividend of 0.55 euros per share, 10% more than in the prior year," Deutsche Telekom said.
In 2016, Deutsche Telekom expects group revenue to increase, driven by T-Mobile US, and has forecast adjusted EBITDA of approximately €21.2 billion. Capex is expected to increase to around €11.2 billion from €10.8 billion in 2015.
Deutsche Telekom also expects to record a gain of €2.5 billion from the sale of its stake in U.K. mobile operator EE to BT, which completed in late January. The gain will be recognised in the first quarter.
"We are continuing on our path to becoming the leading European telecommunications provider with further strong investments in the future this year," Höttges said.
