In the first six months of 2021, Revenues increased by +7.6% and EBITDA by +1.4%, demonstrating a sustained evolution in the continued growth of the customer base, in an innovative and diversified portfolio, in the maintenance of high standards of quality of service and rationalization of the organic structure and operating costs, bearing in mind the delay in the 5G Auction and the continued deterioration of the regulatory environment, which is anticipated to continue destroying value.
- The performance of Revenues in the 2nd quarter and 1st half of 2021 remains sustained and on a growth path, totaling €550.7M and €1,099.8M respectively, which translates into a year-on-year growth of +10.3% and +7.6%, benefiting from an economic context that has partially returned to normal, after the gradual lifting of confinement measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- EBITDA in the 2nd quarter amounted to 213.0M€ and 417.3M€ in the 1st half, revealing the company's continued focus on operational control and the implementation of the Integrated Restructuring Plan.
- The customer base showed sustained growth, continuing to strengthen Altice Portugal's position in the country, thanks to its preference for fiber, its increasingly diversified portfolio of services and its convergent offers.
- Altice Portugal continued to expand its Fiber Optic network, adding 111,000 more homes in the 2nd quarter of 2021 and 208,000 more in the first six months of the year. At the end of June 2021, the number of homes passed with Optical Fiber in Portugal reached 5.8 million.
The national social and economic context continues to suffer from the effects of the pandemic, although we are already seeing some recovery, with Revenue showing an increase of +0.3% compared to the previous quarter (550.7 million euros in the 2nd quarter of 2021 compared to 549.1 million euros in the 1st quarter of 2021).
The year-on-year evolution of Revenues in the 2nd quarter of +10.3%, and also in the previous quarter of +5.1%, already shows greater support in the various business lines, also benefiting from the effect caused by the mandatory lockdown in the 2nd quarter of 2020, which resulted in the absence of Premium Sports Content Revenue, as a result of the suspension of sports competitions, in a lower volume of Equipment Sales, due to the closure of Stores, and in the drop in Roaming Revenue, given the absence of tourism and the restriction on traveling.
Uninterrupted growth in the Company's Fixed and Mobile Businesses, in the Customer Base and in Services, boosted the trajectory of the Revenue line. The operational performance of the Consumer and Business Services Segments, combined with the commitment to an innovative and diversified portfolio, to maintaining high standards of service through the quality, robustness and security of the networks, and the appetite for the Fibre/Convergence binomial, resulted in a remarkable record for this financial indicator.
EBITDA grew again in the 2nd quarter of 2021, with +5.9% compared to the 2nd quarter of 2020 and +4.3% compared to the previous quarter. In the first six months of 2021, it increased by +1.4% compared to the same period last year.
Investment amounted to 117.1 million euros in the 2nd quarter and 228.4 million euros in the 1st half (+2.8% and +4.7% compared to the same period last year, respectively), reflecting the continued expansion of fiber optic coverage. Altice Portugal added another 111,000 homes in the 2nd quarter of 2021 and another 208,000 in the first six months of the year, having reached 5.8 million homes passed in Portugal by the end of June 2021.
Although the effects of the pandemic are already being felt to a lesser extent, with the progressive opening up of the economy, Altice Portugal has remained faithful to its commitment to provide its private and business customers with reliable connectivity and integrated solutions that support them along the path of digital transformation, an element that has become essential to overcome the limitations imposed by this new reality. Portugal has once again been able to count on the resilience of Altice Portugal, the leading operator in the telecommunications market.
Consumer Segment | 2nd Quarter 2021
The Consumer Segment posted revenues of 303.7 million euros in the 2nd quarter of the year, which translated into a year-on-year variation of +7.0% when compared to the total of 283.7 million euros recorded in the same period of the previous year. Compared to the previous quarter, there was a slight contraction of -0.7%.
Revenues performed well in the 2nd quarter of 2021, consolidating the growth trend of recent quarters and showing a sustained recovery in the already long pandemic context. On the one hand, the innovative and diversified portfolio, combined with the maintenance of high standards of service and network quality, and on the other, the availability of a superior technology, Fiber, combined with the possibility of Convergence, allowed for uninterrupted growth in the Fixed, Mobile and Convergent Customer Base.
Being "best in class" in terms of customer experience was also a determining factor in the progress shown by the financial and operational indicators. The progressive expansion of Altice Portugal's Proximity Store Concept, throughout the country, has allowed us to strengthen the path towards a new customer relationship reality, without physical barriers between customers and service professionals and with logistical conditions geared towards on-site experimentation of all the services and products in the company's portfolio. The relevance of the preference for digital channels, the continued focus on self-care, through the introduction of new resources to guarantee automatic problem solving in the new virtual assistant and the focus on extending the Benefits Program for MEO customers, were determining factors.
Diversification into new business areas, such as Energy, has allowed Altice Portugal to strengthen its value proposition by combining a competitive "green" energy offer with telecommunications benefits that guarantee an even stronger relationship with its user base. The opening of "Espaço MOCHE" in Lisbon, a creative hub dedicated to MOCHE culture, also continued the business diversification movement. Altice Portugal's brand aimed at the youth segment - MOCHE - strengthened its positioning by creating a physical space that is a meeting point for the younger generations with the aim of developing their skills through workshops and events.
Business Services Segment | 2nd Quarter 2021
[Combines the Business Segments - B2B, Wholesale and the remaining Business Units of Altice Portugal]
In the 2nd quarter of the year, the Business Services Segment's revenues increased by 14.4% compared to the same period of the previous year, standing at 247.0 million euros (versus 215.9 million euros in the 2nd quarter of 2020). Revenues increased by +1.5% compared to the previous quarter.
The evolution of the Segment in this quarter shows the criticality of the services provided and its commitment to digital transformation to help customers overcome this global crisis. The financial performance demonstrates the fruitful process of transforming the revenue mix, with non-telco revenue streams reaching a very significant weight in Total Revenues during this period.
Harnessing the power of new technologies to promote new customer experiences in pursuit of quality excellence, the Segment launched new products and services to monetize future trends and opportunities, in terms of continuous Cloud connectivity and security or IoT-supported services. The improvement and expansion of the convergent portfolio, going beyond the traditional telecommunications offer and adopting its aggregation with non-telco offers, has made it possible to promote upselling and broader convergence within the customer base. Innovative ICT, BPO and IoT offers were able to overcome the impact of postponed business and promote greater customer engagement.