Latin America and mobile data were the main drivers of Telefónica Group’s revenue during the first nine months of 2011. The Spanish company, the world’s fourth-biggest mobile operator by connections, closed the period with revenues of U.S. $63.7 billion. Telefónica Latinoamérica reported an 8.1% rise in revenue compared with the same period last year, accounting for 46% of the group total; mobile data revenues rose 19.6%.
Of Telefónica’s total of 300 million accesses, an increase of 6% over the same period the previous year, 194.9 million were in Latin America. In the region, Telefónica’s mobile accesses rose 10% to 159.8 million; fixed-line accesses were up 2% to 35.1 million. The company said it is focusing on high-value customers and leadership in the development of mobile broadband.
Revenue from Telefónica’s Latin American operations for the first nine months of 2011 was $29.4 billion, up 18.1% compared with the same period last year. Operating income before depreciation and amortization amounted to $10.6 billion, down 0.9%. Telefónica Latinoamérica’s results for the first nine months of this year reflect the full consolidation of Vivo in October 2010.
Capital expenditures in 2011’s first nine months reached $4.4 billion, which included the cost of spectrum granted in Brazil ($483 million) and Costa Rica ($94 million) compared with $1.4 billion in spectrum acquired in Mexico last year.
During the first nine months of 2011, Brazil consolidated its role as Telefónica’s main market in Latin America, accounting for 50% of revenues. Similarly, Brazil was the main contributor to organic revenue growth. Telefónica’s next-largest markets by revenue are Argentina at 11%, Chile and Venezuela at 8% each, and Peru at 7%.
In Brazil, Telefónica had 82.8 million accesses, of which about 67 million were wireless and 15.7 million were wireline, at the end of September. The mobile business grew 16% compared with the same period in 2010; fixed broadband business increased 14%. Telefónica’s revenues in Brazil were $14.6 billion in the first nine months, a year-over-year increase of 5.4%, reflecting the steady acceleration of mobile service revenues, the company said.
In Argentina, Telefónica’s second-largest market by revenue, the carrier remained focused on customer value as its main growth lever, concentrating in particular on a fixed and mobile broadband differential offer. Telefónica had 22.6 million accesses in Argentina at the end of September, of which 16.4 million are mobile accesses and 6.2 million are fixed accesses. Revuene totaled $3.1 billion, an increase of 15.2% from the first nine months of 2010.
In Chile, Telefónica accounted at the end of September 12.3 million accesses (9.1 million mobile accesses and 3.1 million fixed). Reflecting the stability of the fixed business and the continued good performance of mobile, revenue stood at $2.3 billion for the first nine months of 2011, up 6.1% from the same period last year, the company said.
Telefónica Mexico’s nine-month operating and financial performance was driven by the commercial repositioning carried out since the second half of last year. By the end of this September, Telefónica Móviles México managed 21.2 million accesses, up 10% from September 2010, of which mobile accesses stood at 20.5 million. There was an acceleration in the growth rate of mobile broadband accesses which, by the end of September, quadrupled the number of accesses a year earlier. However, Telefónica’s revenue in Mexico dropped 12.6% in the year’s first nine months compared with the same period last year, to $1.6 billion.
In Peru, Telefónica had 18.2 million accesses (13.5 million mobile and 4.7 million fixed) at the end of September, an increase of 10% from a year ago, and revenue of $2 billion.
Colombia accounted for 13.1 million accesses and $1.6 billion in revenue in the first nine months of 2011, up 4.9% compared with the same period in 2010.
In Venezuela, where Telefónica had 10.2 million accesses at the end of September, the company said that it continued to focus its strategy on innovation and maximizing customer value.
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