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Wind Tre posts first results as a merged entity; hails EBITDA growth driven by strong mobile service revenue performance.
Italy’s newly formed mobile market leader Wind Tre this week shared its first set of financial results as a combined company, highlighting EBITDA and revenue growth in the fourth quarter of last year and in 2016 as a whole.
Wind Tre, created from the merger of CK Hutchison and VimpelCom’s Italian assets – 3 Italia and Wind respectively – late last year, generated EBITDA of €2.18 billion last year, an increase of 6.8% on 2015, while in the fourth quarter alone earnings improved by 7.5%.
The firm noted that it compiled its figures using data from previous results announcements from both parties.
The telco generated €6.49 billion in revenues in 2016, up 1.3%, leaving it with an EBITDA margin of 33.6%, compared with €6.41 billion and 31.9% a year earlier.
The top line was driven by "the remarkable performance in service revenue," Wind Tre said, in a statement.
Service revenue grew by 0.9% in the full year to €5.47 billion, and by 2.1% in Q4.
"Mobile service revenue improved by 1.7% in 2016, one of the best performances of the market, with Q4 2016 confirming [the] positive trend (+1.7%)," Wind Tre said.
Indeed, arch-rival Telecom Italia, formerly the largest mobile operator in the country, posted 1.4% growth in 2016 mobile service revenues earlier this month, while fixed service revenues slid by 4.1%.
Wind Tre’s fixed revenues fell by 2% to €1.07 billion, but the firm was able to announce an uptick of 3.9% in Q4 to the incumbent’s 3.6% drop.
It is worth noting that Telecom Italia had a stronger EBITDA margin at 42.1% in 2016.
Wind Tre ended 2016 with 31.3 million mobile customers, which it claims gives it a market share in excess of 37%, while its fixed base came in at around 2.7 million.
The company reiterated the strategy it unveiled earlier this year with regard to maintaining both the Wind and 3 brands. Wind stands for clarity and simplicity, while 3’s brand campaign is based on technology and trust, it said.
