The income of Cellnex Telecom, in the first year after the spin-off of Abertis, amounted to 613 million euros

Broadcasting infrastructures (225 million) contribute 36.7%, while 13.8% (85 million) are generated in the provision of network services.

Cellnex Telecom has presented the results for the 2015 financial year, the first closing after the spin-off of Abertis Infraestructuras and the company's listing on the Stock Market on May 7, 2015. Of note is the increase in revenue to 613 million euros, and the growth of recurring EBITDA to 235 million. The net result closed at 48 million euros.

Comparability with 2014 is conditioned by the cessation of broadcasts of 9 TV channels in May 2014, and the consolidation since the 2nd quarter of 2015 of the 7,377 towers acquired from WIND in Italy.

Francisco Reynés, president of Cellnex Telecom, has stressed that "the closing data of this first year of Cellnex Telecom as an independent and listed company confirm the positive evolution and aligned with the forecasts of analysts and investors after the listing on the stock market in the month of May. The main magnitudes that account for the company's performance are a reflection of a management that maintains focus and concentration on the day-to-day business, efficiency in execution, and that closely follows the growth opportunities that are currently available. on the company's agenda. The effective management of the organic business, cost efficiency and the commitment to building a European project of reference from the strength and capabilities deployed in Italy and Spain, define the company's management team."

For his part, Tobías Martínez, CEO of Cellnex, has stressed how "the evolution of all the company's business lines has responded to the forecasts. It is a particularly notable finding in a year marked by important challenges such as the integration of Galata's activity in Italy, the IPO itself with the changes and transformations that it has entailed, or the pressure and demands on the management of costs and operations in 2015 with a smaller number of DTT channels in Spain, waiting for the recovery of the 1.75 multiplexes associated with 6 new channels that are expected to start next April, and whose signal transport will be managed by Cellnex. In this context, the assessment of Cellnex Telecom's performance in its first year-end as a listed company is clearly positive.

Organic growth

By business lines, activity in the audiovisual broadcast networks sector contributed 36.7% of revenues with 225 million euros. Mobile telephony infrastructures, which already incorporated the towers acquired from WIND on March 26 in the 2nd quarter, already contributed 50% of revenues with 303 million euros. While the business focused on security and emergency networks and solutions for the intelligent management of urban infrastructures (IoT and Smart cities) contributed 13.8% of revenues with 85 million euros.

At the end of 2015 Cellnex Telecom had a total of 15,119 locations (7,709 in Italy and 7,410 in Spain), compared to 7,493 in 2014. The organic growth of points of presence on the existing tower base stood at +8% in relation to the end of 2014, while the occupancy ratio reached 1.53 (1.51 at 9 months of 2015). This is a reflection of commercial activity, with the closing of new service provision agreements with mobile telephone operators and telecommunications operators and audiovisual communication groups in both Italy and Spain.

Total investments for the period reached 787 million euros: 740 million for expansion (highlighting the 693 for the Galata operation in Italy in March, and 44 for the acquisition of a package of 300 towers from Telefónica last January); 47 million were applied to the maintenance of installed capacity and to investments linked to the generation of new income, such as, for example, the rationalization of the telephone tower park that allows greater and better use of the installed capacity.

Axes of growth

Along with the continuous analysis of the inorganic growth opportunities offered in Europe in the context of consolidation of the telecommunications sector and the decision of telephone operators to separate and outsource their infrastructure networks, Cellnex Telecom has set the axes of its organic growth and development for the coming years, focusing on the rationalization of sites (estimated at around 2,000 in the medium term) thanks to agreements with telephone operators that allow them to optimize their cost structures and investment needs, or the construction of 400 sites in Italy until 2021 that will serve WIND within the framework of the agreements closed in 2015 for the acquisition of Galata.

It will also emphasize the fiber optic connection of locations that are key to the effective deployment of broadband mobility services by the company's clients and will reach new service management agreements in countries that are not currently in the company's priority focus, but that may constitute new expansion opportunities in the medium and long term.

In the future of the company, the plans to deploy the new generation of “small cells” will also play a key role to improve service in areas of large agglomerations.

Along these lines, Cellnex has closed an agreement with Orange, and the collaboration of Barcelona City Council, to deploy the first 4G Small Cells network in Barcelona. This first deployment will allow the validation of the relational model between mobile operators, infrastructure managers such as Cellnex and the local Administration in the face of future larger deployments.

Debt structure

On July 20, 2015, Cellnex Telecom issued its inaugural bond with a 6-fold oversubscription. The issue consisted of a bond for an amount of 600 million euros, with a maturity of 7 years (2022) and a coupon of 3.125%.

After this issue, Cellnex has a stable, long-term debt structure (6.6 years, compared to 3.9 years before the issue), with an average cost of 2.2%, and 54% referenced to a fixed rate. This refinancing process allows for longer maturities, the elimination of covenants and the diversification of financing sources.
The company's net debt at the end of the year reached 928 million euros compared to 342 million at the end of 2014, and after financing the acquisition of WIND's tower portfolio for 693 million. The annualized net debt/EBITA ratio stood at 3.7x.