Page 17 - bne_Tech_11_2020

Telecom
November 2020 www.intellinews.com I Page 17
"Another solid quarter in terms of revenue and EBITDA growth (mobile and cloud key drivers), with EBITDA appearing 6% above consensus – mostly thanks to 1% higher revenue and
a bit slower cost increase," BCS Global Markets commented on November 11, maintaining
a Hold recommendation on the name.
Staff costs kept growing at a solid pace (+11%) as Rostelecom aims to beef up tech and cyber-security functions, to support future growth, BCS GM noted.
Rostelecom upgraded its guidance for 2020 revenue and Ebitda growth as expected to 9%+, and reiterated its capital expenditure RUB100- 110bn ($1.3-1.42bn) before state projects.
Sova Capital on November 11 sees the results release and upgraded guidance as supportive for the analysts' BUY stance on the stock.
Mobile operator O2 Czech Republic reports 7% increase in profit in 9M20
The mobile operator O2 Czech Republic, whose majority owner is Czech billionaire Petr Kellner’s PPF investment group, increased its net profit by 7.7% year-on-year to CZK4.33bn (€163.6mn) in 9M20, the company announced.
Its total consolidated operating revenues increased by 2.2% y/y to CZK29.25bn. The operating savings contributed significantly to the growth in net profit, while revenue from O2 TV and mobile data is behind the increase in revenues, the company said.
"Although telecommunications are relatively immune to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, some anti-epidemic measures are also having a negative effect on us," said O2 Czech Republic CEO Jindrich Fremuth.
"I am pleased with the growing interest of customers in our Internet, television and mobile tariffs, which are more important for the functioning of the company at this time
than ever before, however, even this fact could not compensate for the negative effects of the pandemic on our economy," he added.
"Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we did not meet our internal expectations in the 1H20. In order to compensate for the decline in mobile revenues and to reach a growth in net profit, we had to reduce both operating and capital expenditures," commented O2 vice chairman Czech Republic Tomas Kouril.
The number of mobile customers increased
by 6% y/y to 5.94mn in 9M20. The customer
base of mobile contract services stood at 3.28mn and the number of prepaid customers at 1.93mn.
"After the end of the first wave of the pandemic, we have seen a gradual improvement in our financial performance, the second wave unfortunately leads to a deterioration in the outlook for the rest of the year,” Kouril added.