Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges said 2015 was a highly successful year for its European and U.S. services, resulting in the operator exceeding its financial targets for the year.
The German-headquartered operator today announced that it generated EBITDA of €19.4 billion ($21.3 billion) in 2015, some 6.2 per cent higher than the €18.3 billion it originally forecast. Free cash flow of €4.5 billion was also above Deutsche Telekom's original prediction of €4.3 billion, it announced.
"Deutsche Telekom was extremely successful on both sides of the Atlantic in 2015," Höttges said.
The operator increased CAPEX by 13.5 per cent to €10.8 billion through 2015, excluding mobile spectrum acquisition costs. Höttges pledged that Deutsche Telekom plans "further strong investments" through 2016 as the company continues "on our path to becoming the leading European telecommunications provider".
Earnings were boosted by double-digit rises in net profit and revenue through 2015. Net profit increased by 11.3 per cent year-on-year to €3.3 billion, while revenue was up 10.5 per cent at €69.2 billion. However, when the revenue figure was adjusted to account for currency fluctuations, the annual rise was a more modest 3 per cent, the company stated.
Deutsche Telekom said it minimised declines in its domestic mobile revenues through 2015. The figure fell a marginal 0.4 per cent year-on-year to €1.7 billion, which the operator said was due to a range of discounts it offered as part of pushing its MagentaEins tariff.
Growth in the company's broader European operations came mostly from its mobile data and business customer businesses, which Deutsche Telekom noted partially offset declines in its traditional telecoms business in the region. Adjusted EBITDA in Europe fell 3.2 per cent year-on-year to €4.3 billion.
Deutsche Telekom said the coverage of its European networks increased from 47 per cent of the population in 2014 to 71 per cent in 2015.
The U.S. market proved far more lucrative for Deutsche Telekom through 2015. The operator said its T-Mobile US unit grew faster than its domestic rivals, with revenue rising 8.1 per cent year-on-year to $32.1 billion (€29.1 billion) and adjusted EBITDA growing 29.5 per cent to $7.4 billion.
For more:
- see Deutsche Telekom's earnings statement
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