AT&T is firmly confirmed in first place in the world ranking of TLCs in terms of turnover, while in Europe Deutsche Telekom dominates. Tim is placed in seventeenth place internationally and first in the Italian ranking which sees Iliad continue to climb positions, reaching fifth position at the end of 2020 with a turnover of 668 million euros.
In general, in the first half of 2021, the telecommunications sector tried to raise its head again after the difficulties experienced in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic which, despite the boom in data traffic, saw revenues continue to fall, reaching 2020 billion at the end of 1.080, down by 1,9% on 2019.
These are some of the data contained in thesurvey by the Mediobanca Research Area on 27 major global telecommunications companies with a turnover exceeding 10 billion euros. A relationship
THE WORLD RANKING OF TLC
Seven Asian, 6 European and 4 American groups. This is how the ranking of the major international telco companies is made up, led in terms of turnover by the US giant AT&T, which closed 2020 with revenues of 140 billion euros (-7% on 2016). Instead, it takes second place Vodafone with 105 billion, followed by Deutsche Telekom (101 billion) which undermines the Japanese NTT from third position (fourth with 94,4 billion) thanks to the acquisition of Sprint from the other Japanese Softbank. Tim is the only Italian company to appear in the world ranking of the main telecommunications groups over 10 billion, ranking 17th with 15,6 billion euros in revenues.
Taking industrial margins into consideration it is Verizon to soar with an ebit margin of 23,1%, followed by the Japanese KDDI (19,6%), by Lumen Tech (17,4%) and by the duo China Mobile and America Movil (16,3% each). TO Tim on the other hand, the best average incidence of industrial investments on turnover in the three-year period 2018-20 (26%), a record obtained also thanks to the purchase of frequencies for 5G completed in 2018 and despite the fact that the group's tangible investments alone decreased by 19% on 2019.
As for 2021, Mediobanca points out that “the AT&T spin-off of Warner Media and the sale of Aol and Yahoo by Verizon in 2021 mark the possible end of the idyll in the convergence between telcos and content production, with distribution agreements between the two sectors now becoming the most traveled route”.
THE EUROPEAN RANKING
In Europe the scene is all for Deutsche Telekom which in the first half of 2021 came close to 53 billion in revenues (+1,2%). More than double that of the second-placed Vodafone Group, which in the first six months of the year recorded a turnover of 22,28 billion euros (+2,3%). Closes the podium Orange with 20,86. Tim, on the other hand, is sixth (7,5 billion -2,4%) preceded by Telefonica (20,83 billion) and BT Group (11,5 billion).
AND IN ITALY?
In Italy Tim (Italian business unit) continues to have no rivals, with a turnover that at the end of 2020 amounted to 12 billion euros, down by 8,4% compared to 2019. Second place, with 5,1 billion in revenues ( -9,4%) for Vodafone, followed by Wind Tre (4,9 billion; -3,7%) and Fastweb (2,3 billion; +3,6%). Fifth, as mentioned, Iliad in 5th position, which closed 2020 with revenues of 668 million, up 58,3% compared to 2019. “Excluding the start-ups (Iliad and Open Fiber) and the smallest Eolo, PosteMobile and Linkem, in the five-year period Fastweb is the only one to grow (+28%), with industrial investments higher than the Italian average”, underlines Mediobanca.
Speaking of the margini, Wind Tre is the operator with the highest ebit margin (17,4%) followed by BT Italia (16,6%) and Tim (13,4%), with Wind Tre's profits in dust (+414 %) thanks to lower interest expense recorded in the balance sheet after the debt restructuring carried out in 2019.
THE TELCOS IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2021
After a difficult 2020, with revenues down by 1,9% to 1.080 billion, in the first half of this year the aggregate revenues of the 27 main telecommunications operators worldwide reversed course, rising by 4,8% to 555,5 billion euros. Above all, Asia & the Pacific (+8,5% to 236 billion) contributed to the growth. The players of the Americas also did well (up 4,5% to 168 billion), while Europe remains at a standstill (-0,5%) with an aggregate turnover of 151,4 billion euros.
Also in the first semester "investments fell by 2,5%, with the biggest cuts for the Americas and Asia & Pacific (-11,1% and -10,1% respectively), but they grew by 20,6% for Europe which has to make up for the delays in the deployment of 5G”, he underlines Mediobanca.
THE ITALIAN MARKET
Between 2016 and 2020, the revenues of the telco sector decreased overall at a weighted average rate of 2,7%, with the mobile network in greater difficulty (-5,2%) compared to fixed (-0,3%). The trend also continued in the first six months of 2021, a period in which the domestic revenues of Italian operators fell by 1,8%, with the largest contraction for the mobile network (-5,4%). "The decline in turnover in mobile services is concentrated in the top 3 operators (Tim -0,4%, Wind Tre -10,3% and Vodafone -5,2%) with a cumulative decrease of 420 million euros", reads in the report it also highlights the double-digit growth of Iliad (+23,9% on the first half of 2020). Fastweb also did well (+6,9%).
Even the growth of the fixed network (+1,2%) shows gray areas. The numbers are in fact counterbalanced by bearish policies applied by the main operators on their respective tariff plans pending the launch of fiber services by new players (Iliad). “The tightening of the competitive context and the need for new investments aimed at the large-scale implementation of 5G and the increase in the diffusion of fiber make the need for the sector to seize the growth opportunities deriving from new digital technologies unavoidable ( including cloud, AI and ICT services) in the near future”, Mediobanca points out.
