Telefonica buoyed by handset sales as revenue falls flat
Telefonica has posted flat revenue for the second quarter, as strong growth in handset sales offset the negative impact of exchange rates.
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The Spanish telecoms giant posted revenue of €12.1bn (£10.8bn) in the three months to the end of June, while net profit fell 4.5 per cent to €862m.
Telefonica, which is the parent company of UK operator O2, said its results had been hampered by currency headwinds, which it said reduced revenue growth by 4.1 percentage points.
Revenue growth from the firm’s mobile services ticked up just over two per cent, but the rise was fuelled largely by handset sales, which surged 16.7 per cent.
Telefonica posted a 0.3 per cent rise in revenue in its home country. However, the strongest gains were found in Germany and the UK, which grew income 1.6 per cent and 4.8 per cent
Chairman and chief executive Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete said: “We have demonstrated the consistency of our transformation strategy towards a technology company, backed by our results. We are back to a sustainable and profitable growth.”
Telefonica, which has almost 350m customers worldwide, said it had increased its average revenue per customer and held churn rate steady.
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The firm also reduced debt to €40.2bn, marking its ninth consecutive quarter of debt reduction.
Main image credit: Getty