Telecom Italy it rose on the Stock Exchange by 0,8%, to 0,839 euro, after the management conference call with analysts. The share regained share from the red recorded at the start (with a drop of 3%), but slowed down compared to the highs of the morning (0,8603 euro per share). The TLC group released this morning the 2013 accounts and announced for this year the elimination of the coupon on ordinary shares, already halved last year to 0,02 euro from 0,043 in 2012. A coupon of 0,0275 euro per share will be distributed to savings shareholders (0,031 in 2013).
During the conference call, Telecom CEO Marco Patuano said he was "confident" in a return to dividend payments in 2015 for both share classes.
The resources will be directed towards fiber and LTE in Italy and investments in the network. Patuano also explained that the zeroing of the coupon is also in line with the issue of the convertible and added that 2014 will be the year of the "operational and financial turning point".
On Ebitda, management expects a return to sustainable growth from 2016: "We have no targets this year, we confirm 2,1 times the debt/ebitda ratio", underlined the CFO, Piergiorgio Peluso, explaining that "the number one priority it is the continuous reduction of opex and capex to further reduce costs”.
On the governance front, Patuano specified that the changes will make it possible to "improve" and guarantee reassurance to all counterparties. The changes were decided in view of the meeting for the renewal of the board on April 16 and include the majority of independent members in the board, the independent non-executive chairman, the separate CEO and the strengthening of his powers, the adequate international profiling for all candidates.
Then there is the issue of consolidation, which has long been the subject of market speculation at the European level. Here Patuano is open to consolidation, but not in a guiding role in the process: "In case of consolidation proposals we are open - he said - we like the idea of participating with some assets, frequencies, other components that could lead to further synergies even if not we want to be the captains of this rescue, if it happens we will be at their disposal".
In Italy, Patuano reclaimed Tim's revenge in the last quarter of 2013. "Tim – he said – regained the revenue leadership he had lost in 2010 in the Italian market", regaining the number one position on the market.
In the meantime, Peluso confirmed that the operation of integration between the activities of the Network of Ti Media and those of the L'Espresso group "is at an advanced stage, discussions are underway - he said - and an agreement is possible before what we imagine". On the sale of the towers in Italy and Brazil, Peluso again specified that the group is "working internally to define the details" and confirms the work agenda with an expectation of arriving on the market in the first half of the year.
As far as accounts are concerned, Telecom Italia closed 2013 (year of sale of Argentina) with revenues down by 9,1% compared to 2012 (-5,2% at organic level) at 23,4 billion euros. The decline is mainly explained by the performance of the domestic business unit, which recorded organic revenues down by 9,4% to 16,21 billion euros (-9,6% to 16,175 billion reported results). However, the fourth quarter improved with results down by 7,7% compared to -9,1% in the third quarter and -10,5% in the first half of 2013.
Ebitda stood at 9,54 billion (-9,4%) with an incidence on revenues of 40,8%. The group recorded a 2013 loss of 674 million, discounting the goodwill write-down of 2,2 billion made in the first half, without which the group would have shown a profit of 1,5 billion euros. Financial debt decreased to 26,8 billion euro, a decrease of 1,5 billion compared to the end of 2012, and thus achieved the targets set in the strategic plan. Reassurances from management also on the group's ability to repay the debt. The liquidity margin is equal to 13,6 billion and "allows coverage of financial liabilities".
