Swisscom profit suffers from integration of Vodafone Italia
Keystone-SDA
Swisscom suffered a slump in profits in the first nine months of the year. The integration of the acquired Vodafone Italia is primarily to blame, which caused the result to plummet.
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Net profit fell by 23% to CHF988 million between January and September, as Swisscom announced in a press release on Thursday.
Operating profit before depreciation and amortisation after deduction of leasing costs (EBITDAaL) fell to CHF3.78 billion. This is a decrease of 4.8% compared to the pro-forma figures if Vodafone Italia had already belonged to Swisscom in the previous year.
In addition to the costs for the integration of the €8 billion acquisition of Vodafone Italia, the further erosion in the telecoms business weighed on the operating result. The strength of the Swiss franc also created a headwind. At constant exchange rates, EBITDAaL would only have fallen by 3%, it said.
On a comparable basis, sales shrank by 2.1% to CHF11.18 billion. Adjusted for currency effects, the decline would have been just 1.3%.
With these figures, Swisscom has met the expectations of the financial community in terms of revenue and exceeded them in terms of profit.
Sticking to targets
Swisscom is sticking to its targets for the year as a whole: together with Vodafone Italia, management is still aiming for revenue of CHF15.0 to CHF15.2 billion. Swisscom aims to achieve an operating profit of around CHF5 billion.
If these targets are met, the dividend is to be increased to CHF26 per share. Since 2010, the Swiss industry leader has paid out CHF22 each year. A good half of this will flow into the federal treasury.
Investments of CHF3.1 to CHF3.2 billion are also planned, of which around CHF 1.7 billion will be invested in Switzerland.
Translated from German by DeepL/mga
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