Cellnex revenue grew by 15% to € 520 million

Results January-September 2016

EBITDA was € 208 million (+18%) and net income was € 35 million

• Cellnex Telecom closed the period from January – September 2016 with growth in its key figures, in line with company forecasts.
• Recurring free cash flow for the financial year grew 26% to € 182 million.
• Net debt at 30 September was € 1.035 billion, with an annualised debt/EBITDA ratio of 3.7x, equivalent to the close of FY 2015 and already incorporating the debt corresponding to the new € 208 million in investment for the growth operations closed during the first nine months.
• The tenancy ratio of Cellnex sites continues to grow sustainably, standing at 1.58, marking a year-on-year increase of 4.6%.
• Cellnex Italia, which includes the activities of TowerCo, Galata and CommsCon, contributes 34% of total company revenue, and provided € 177 million in the period.
• At the end of the third quarter of the financial year, Cellnex announced the acquisition of 100% of Shere Group in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, an investment of € 393 million.
• The acquisitions in Italy (CommsCon), France (Bouygues Telecom towers), Netherlands (Protelindo and Shere Group Towers) and the UK (Shere Group), which have been completed over the period , have achieved a total investment of € 601 million.

Barcelona, 28 October 2016. Cellnex Telecom has released its results for the close of the first nine months of 2016. Revenue stood at € 520 million (+15%) while EBITDA was € 208 million (+18%). Net income was € 35 million, compared to the figure of € 19 million at the close of September 2015.

Data for these first nine months, covering the whole of the third quarter, already include CommsCon in Italy and the 261 sites acquired from Protelindo in the Netherlands. Furthermore, the towers acquired from Bouygues Telecom in France were incorporated on 16 September. The ShereGroup assets will be integrated from the fourth quarter onwards.

Cellnex CEO Tobias Martínez commented on the figures for the third quarter, stating that the period was “marked by a consistent management of our business fundamentals with a focus on revenue, EBITDA, improved tenancy ratios and points of presence at the sites, compared to September 2015. This period was further marked by our focus on growth opportunities and consolidation in European markets.”

“Integrating Shere Group’s assets in the Netherlands places us in a strong leading position, with 725 sites in the country. Our entry into the French market via Bouygues Telecom also confirms the solidity of the independent infrastructure operator model and broadens the base of European MNO’s with which Cellnex is establishing long-term cooperation and partnerships.”

Cellnex President Francisco Reynés underlined “the consistency of results which, quarter to quarter, continue to meet market expectations. They are the result of a combination of realism, prudence and rigour in management coupled with ambition and conviction in identifying targets for growth in Europe and the capacity to achieve these targets.”

Organic growth, improved occupancy rate, investments, new DTT channels in Spain

Cellnex’s business segments comprise the following areas by revenue split: mobile telephony infrastructure contributed 54% of revenue, amounting to € 281 million; activity in the audiovisual broadcasting networks area contributed 33% of revenue, to the tune of € 113 million; business focused on security and emergency service networks and solutions for smart urban infrastructure management (IoT and Smart cities) contributed 13% of revenue, totalling € 65 million.

As of 30 September 2016, Cellnex Telecom had a total of 15,633 sites (7,729 in Italy, 7,413 in Spain, 261 in the Netherlands and 230 in France), to which 1,028 nodes (DAS and Small Cells) managed by CommsCon in Italy add.

Organic growth of points of presence over the existing stock of towers  rose by 4.3% with respect to the same period in 2015, while the occupancy rate per site was 1.58, rising from 1.51 in September 2015. This is a reflection of business activity, with the signing of new service provision agreements with mobile telephony operators, telecoms operators and audiovisual communications groups in both Italy and Spain. Revenues from the period includes the start of broadcasts from six new TV channels in late April. In the accumulated six-month figure, this line of activity remains affected by the lack of comparability with the first quarter of 2015 in which there was still a ‘simulcast’ (a parallel broadcast on two different frequencies) coinciding with the migration and freeing up of the 800 MHz band.

Investments for the period totalled € 250 million, with € 19 million related to the acquisition of CommsCon, € 109 million to the purchase the Protelindo sites in the Netherlands and € 80 million to the first 230 Bouygues Telecom towers in France. Furthermore, € 42 million was spent on maintaining installed capacity, as well as investments linked to generating new revenue, greater efficiency and improving operating costs by renegotiating contracts relating to the sites in which the mobile infrastructures managed by the company are located.

Debt structure: issuance of a corporate bond for € 750 million

At the close of September, Cellnex maintained a stable, long-term debt structure, with an average life of 6.2 years, an average annual cost of 2%, and of 96% referenced to a fixed rate.

On 1 August 2016 the company issued a corporate bond for € 750 million maturing in January 2024 and with a coupon of 2.375%. This is Cellnex’s second bond issue on the debt markets, following the one issued in July 2015 for € 600 million, which matures in 2022.

The main objective of this second issue is to increase the Company’s capacity to respond to growth opportunities, extending the maturity profile of its debt and taking advantage of the current low interest rates. Following this transaction, Cellnex faces no significant maturity obligations until 2022.

Cellnex has increased its available credit lines by € 825 million with maturities between 2019 and 2023, at a cost of 1%. Cellnex has therefore extended its total debt limit to € 2.175 billion.

Owing to all of these factors, on 30 September the company’s net debt stood at € 1.035 billion, compared to € 927 million at the close of 2015. The annualised net debt/EBITDA ratio, incorporating the debt corresponding to the new acquisitions in the period, remains at the same figure of 3.7x as in December 2015. Since it closed the acquisition of ShereGroup in October, Cellnex has access to immediate liquidity of more than € 700 million.

On 30 March 2016 Cellnex Telecom joined 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 completed the Asset Purchase Programme (APP) previously deployed by the ECB.

Cellnex Telecom’s bond issues maintained their “investment grade” rating from Fitch (BBB- with stable outlook). Moreover, last  June S&P confirmed our BB+ rating, improving the outlook from stable to positive.

 About Cellnex Telecom

Cellnex Telecom is Europe’s leading independent operator of wireless communications infrastructure, with a total portfolio of 16,661 sites (data valid on 30 September 2016), including CommsCon’s nodes. Cellnex operates in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom.

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)).