Telefónica met the targets for 2022 that it had revised upwards in July, increased billing in all the countries in which it is active and has confirmed that it will maintain the profit of 0.30 euros per share for the year 2023. Three milestones in those that the markets saw enough gasoline yesterday to, contrary to what used to be usual on the days of presentation of Telefónica's results, boost the share price, which ended up closing with a rise of 1.52%, up to 3 86 euros, the highest level so far this year.
“Despite the fact that the year has been very different from what was planned, we announced our goals the same day the war broke out, we have shown that we are a predictable and reliable company. We improved our mid-year predictions and we have met, also maintaining the dividend. If there is any risk, it is to be able to upload it”, assured yesterday the president of the company, José María Álvarez-Pallete.
A year that, despite the tensions, Telefónica closed with a profit of 2,011 million euros. It is 75% less than the 8,137 million it earned a year earlier, but which was led by the impact of extraordinary operations such as the sale of Telxius towers and the merger with the British subsidiary. Without this effect of extraordinary operations, the profit would have increased by 4%, in line with what was announced by the company.
The reported income of the group in 2022 grew for the first time since 2015, to 39,993 million euros, 1.8% more than in the previous year. The operating result before amortizations (oibda, the company's own magnitude that is assimilated to ebitda) stood at 12,852 million, below the 21,983 million of last year, 41.5% less), affected by restructuring costs and capital gains derived from extraordinary sales of the previous year. Excluding these effects, the oibda grew by 3%, in line with the commitment, as well as the investment to debt ratio, which remained at the forecast 15%. The debt as of December 31 stood at 26,700 million, 2.3% above the previous year.
“It was a key year in which we have managed to strengthen our position in our four large markets. In Spain we have improved the loyalty rate and we have the lowest abandonment level since 2015 with an average revenue per customer of 90 euros”, explained the company's CEO, Ángel Vilá. In other words, Telefónica Spain managed to overcome the inflationary pressure of the market in 2022 and its income rose 0.6%, to 12,497 million euros. In the last quarter of 2022, service revenue posted year-on-year growth for the first time in three years. Now, the teleco must demonstrate that it is capable of maintaining that growth with the announced price increase for 2023.
In the strategic field, Vilá also announced that Telefónica is willing to study corporate operations in the fiber wholesale sector, although financially for 2023 it maintains a conservative profile in line with what was achieved in 2022.
