Cellnex closes Q3 2017 with revenues up 11% and EBITDA up 25%

Results January-September 2017

Number of sites operated by Cellnex grew 29% compared to September 2016, reflecting the incorporation of assets from Bouygues in France, Shere in the Netherlands and UK, Sunrise in Switzerland and Alticom in the Netherlands.

• The key indicators show the positive impact, once again in this quarter, of the combination of geographical expansion and solid organic growth:
• Points of presence (PoPs) grew 31% with the new acquisitions (+4% like-for-like). The customer ratio per site increased 4% like-for-like.
• The roll-out of new DAS (distributed antenna systems) nodes grew 15% compared to the first 9 months of 2016.
• 45% of the rationalising (dismantling) plan of 2,000 sites between 2016-2019 is under way and contracted.
• 91% of the 2,200 sites target to be built up to 2021 for the company’s customers are already committed.
• In figures, revenue stood at € 579 million; EBITDA € 259 million; net result € 33 million; and recurring free cash flow € 208 million.
• The purchase of Alticom in the Netherlands for € 133 million was finalised on 4 September 2017.
• Cellnex confirms FY EBITDA at Eur 352 million in the upper end of guidance range.
• Net debt as of 30 September stood at € 2.09 billion, with a annualised debt/EBITDA ratio of 5.4x. 72% is at a fixed rate, the average cost of debt (drawn down and not drawn down) is 2% and the average life is 6.1 years.
• At the end of the period January-September, Cellnex had an immediate liquidity (cash and banks plus available credit lines) of € 1.6 billion.
• The Board of Directors has approved an interim dividend payment of € 0.044 per share for 2017 that will be distributed in December.

Barcelona, 14 November 2017. Cellnex Telecom has presented the results corresponding to the first nine months of 2017. Revenues stood at € 579 million and EBITDA was € 259 million. The net result closed at € 30 million, reflecting higher amortisations and financial costs (+58% vs. Q3 2016) associated with the group’s growth strategy and the consequent geographic expansion.

During 2016 and the first nine months of 2017, Cellnex allocated over € 1,4 billion to growth operations in France, the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. This investment package is part of the more than € 2 billion in growth projects already announced, between 2016 and 2017, which will be undertaken up to 2022. “We closed the third quarter of 2017 with increases in our key indicators, demonstrating the value of our continued geographical consolidation, and like-for-like growth that remains within our 3-4% goal,” said Cellnex Chief Executive Officer Tobias Martinez.

Furthermore, during a meeting with investors at the “Capital Markets Day 2017” held by the company in Barcelona today, on the 14^th of November 2017, Cellnex’s CEO highlighted the Company’s growth dynamic over these past two years since the IPO: “From 2015 to date, Cellnex has closed ten transactions in six countries with an overall investment of € 3 billion. We have diversified the Company’s business profile, redoubling our commitment to telecommunications infrastructure services, which now account for 60% of revenue. We have diversified our revenue streams by geographical markets. We have expanded – and diversified – our customer base, providing us with more solid and resilient flows, and we have improved our backlog (future sales contracted), currently standing at € 15 billion.”

41% of income and 41% of EBITDA is generated outside Spain. Italy, Cellnex’s main market for telecommunications infrastructure services, provides 32% of income

By business lines, Telecommunications Services and Infrastructures provided 59% of total revenue with € 340 million, an increase of 21% compared to September 2016.

Activity in audiovisual broadcasting services and infrastructures contributed 31% of income, with € 179 million.

Meanwhile, the business focused on security and emergency service networks and solutions for smart urban infrastructure management (IoT and Smart cities) contributed 10% of revenue, totalling € 59 million.

As of 30 September, 41% of income and 41% of EBITDA were generated outside the Spanish market. Italy is the second largest market, accounting for 32% of revenue to September.

As of 30 September 2017, Cellnex had a total of 20,035 sites (7,758 in Italy, 7,475 in Spain and 4,802 in Netherlands, France, the UK and Switzerland), plus 1,233 DAS and Small Cells nodes.

It should be noted that the DAS project, providing mobile broadband coverage to the 68,000 spectators of the new Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, will come on stream as of Q4 2017.

Like-for-like organic growth of Points of Presence in sites stood at +4.5% in relation for the first half of 2016, while the customer ratio per site (excluding changes to the perimeter) was 1.66x, up 4.5% in relation to September 2016.

Operative investments in the first nine months of 2017 stood at € 57million, applied principally to maintaining installed capacity and to investments linked to generating new revenues and improving efficiency. Meanwhile investments in growth – new acquisitions – stood at € 716 million.

Debt structure

Cellnex closed Q3 2017 with a stable long-term debt structure, with an average life of 6.1 years, an average cost of approximately 2% (combining debt drawn down and not drawn down), and 72% at a fixed rate. Cellnex Telecom’s debt is not subject to covenants.

In January Cellnex issued its fourth bond, for € 335 million, a coupon of 2.875% and a maturity date of 2025. In April Cellnex implemented the private issue of an € 80 million bond maturing in 2026 at an interest rate of EURIBOR +2.27%, as well as a 10-year € 56.5 million loan at a 3.25% fixed interest rate.

On 3 August Cellnex implemented the private issue of a € 60 million bond maturing in 2027 at an interest rate of Euribor +2.20%. Likewise, in October, it took out a syndicated loan of 190 million Swiss francs maturing in 2023 at an interest rate of Libor + 1.05%.

As of 30 June the Company’s net debt stood at € 2.09 billion compared to € 1.499 billion at the close of 2016, equivalent to a net debt/EBITDA ratio of 5.4x. Likewise, at the close of September Cellnex had access to immediate liquidity (cash and banks + debt not drawn down) to the tune of € 1.6 billion.

On 30 March 2016 Cellnex Telecom’s bonds were added to the list of corporate bonds eligible as collateral by the European Central Bank in monetary policy operations. This action falls within the framework of the Corporate Sector Purchase Programme (CSPP), which on 10 March 2016 completed the Asset Purchase Programme (APP) previously deployed by the ECB.

Cellnex Telecom’s bond issues maintain their “investment grade” rating from Fitch (BBB- with a negative outlook), confirmed by the agency itself last May, just as S&P confirmed the “BB+” rating with a stable outlook.

About Cellnex Telecom

Cellnex Telecom is Europe’s leading independent operator of wireless telecommunications and broadcasting infrastructures with a total portfolio of more than 21,000 sites (as at 30 September 2017). Cellnex operates in Spain, Italy, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Cellnex closed the last full financial year 2016 with revenues of € 707 million, EBITDA of € 290 million and a net result of € 40 million.

The Company is listed on the continuous market of the Spanish stock exchange and is part of the selective IBEX 35 and EuroStoxx 600 indices. It is also part of the FTSE4Good sustainability and CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) indices.

In October of this year, Standard Ethics, the independent sustainability rating agency which rates international companies’ sustainability performance, incorporated Cellnex Telecom into its index for Spain with an EE- rating (compliant) with stable outlook. Cellnex has now joined this index, which also includes (with the same rating) other large companies in the telecommunication sector in Europe such as Deutsche Telekom, Swisscom and Telefónica.

Cellnex classifies its activities into three areas: Mobile telephony infrastructures; audiovisual broadcasting networks; and security and emergency service networks and solutions for smart urban infrastructure and services management (smart cities and the “Internet of Things” (IoT)).