Strong results for Deutsche Telekom with ‘limited impact’ from coronavirus

Deutsche Telekom has boasted stable results with the coronavirus pandemic having a limited impact on the operator so far.

The company noted that despite the global spread of the coronavirus, it has seen a 2.3% year-over-year revenue rise to €19.9 billion in the first quarter. Adjusted EBITDA AL rose by 10.2%, to reach €6.5 billion.

Announcing the results, CEO Tim Höttges boasted that “Deutsche Telekom is an anchor of stability in a global crisis.” He said: “Our networks are working reliably as digital lifelines for society.”

The company added that the limited impact on revenue will come as a result of the closure of shops, lower roaming revenues, and companies postponing or canceling IT projects.

However, this is offset against increases in voice telephony revenue and a reduced rate of mobile churn.

Unlike a large number of operators around the planet, Deutsche Telekom has decided to confirm its guidance for the current financial year with the impact on adjusted EBITDA AL expected to be “comparatively low”.

The company will also uphold its proposed dividend for 2019 of €0.60. The CEO said: “Because the business performed well in the last year and continues to do so, we are not calling the dividend into question.”

In terms of subscriber numbers, the operator actually saw its best result in two years in Germany. In the quarter, it registered 83,000 new broadband customers and an increase of 60,000 MagentaTV users.

Of its German TV performance, CFO Christian Illek said that the operator is “happy with the TV net add growth.”

The operator grew the number of fibre optic lines by 389,000 between January and March, bringing the total to around 14.8 million at the end of the first quarter – a year-over-year increase of 1.9 million. German mobile services also performed well with an increase of 141,000 in the quarter.

Overall in Germany, Deutsche Telekom’s adjusted EBITDA AL increased by 2.7% year-over-year in Q1 to €2.2 billion while revenue increased by 0.9% to €5.4 billion.