Telecom Egypt (Ticker: ETEL.CA; TEEG.LN), announced its results for the year ending 31 December 2017.
Full year 2017 key highlights
• Consolidated revenue came in at EGP 18.6bn growing 33% yoy. Organic growth excluding the fx impact came in at 13% yoy.
• EBITDA grew 36% yoy to reach EGP 5.2bn delivering a margin of 28%.
• Net profit after tax reached EGP 3.2bn vs. 2.7bn last year, a yoy growth of 18% representing a net profit margin of 17%. Excluding one-offs net profit would have reached EGP 4.8bn.
• Earnings per Share (EPS) reached EGP 1.4 for FY 17 compared to 1.2 in FY 16, reflecting an improvement of 18% yoy.
• In-service CapEx including license fees for FY 17 amounted to EGP 10.7bn compared to 10.0bn last year and cash CapEx reached 7.5bn compared to 8.6bn in FY 16.
• Net Debt stood at EGP 6.7bn in FY 17 compared to EGP 2.2bn in FY 16, representing an annualized net debt to EBITDA of 1.3x vs. 0.6x last year.
• Employee costs decreased to 27% of revenue from 33% last year thanks to the strong top-line growth.
• Total fixed broadband customers grew 20% yoy to reach 4.1m.
• Fixed voice customers reached 7.1m in FY 2017 up 11% yoy.
• Mobile customers closed the year at 2.3m. • Management proposed a dividend of EGP 1 per share for FY 17 in line with FY 16 .
Ahmed El Beheiry, Group Chief Executive, commented:
“Telecom Egypt delivered a strong operational and financial performance in FY 2017 delivering double digit growth across the P&L. Total consolidated revenue grew 33% yoy to EGP 18.6bn and normalized revenue grew 13% yoy on the continuation of fixed data services growth of 42% leading retail revenue to grow by 28% yoy. Telecom Egypt also reported an 18% growth in net profit in spite of the P&L impact of the settlements with Orange and Etisalat. Excluding such impact net profit would have grown even higher by 31% yoy. The year was marked by several strategic milestones including the launch of our new brand identity “WE”, the new focus on customer care and the creation of a new call centre, the settlement of all legacy legal disputes with mobile operators and the closing of several long-term agreements to secure our wholesale revenue streams. We have also continued to invest in our fixed infrastructure along with our new investments in mobile in order to provide our customers with the best data quality across all technologies with the aim of becoming the customer’s first choice for total telecom services.”