Peru. Peru's Private Investment Supervisory Body in Telecommunications, OSIPTEL, presented the report on telecommunications revenues for the first quarter of 2022. The balance sheet reports an increase of 12%, reaching $4934.5 million soles (about US$1,270 million), although Pay-TV fell by 3%.
According to the report Analysis of the Financial Performance of the Telecommunications Sector, prepared by the Directorate of Regulatory Policies and Competition (DPRC) of the regulatory entity, the result was supported by the higher revenues registered in the business lines Sale of Equipment, Mobile Services and Fixed Internet, in the first three months of the year.
"In the case of Equipment Sales, revenues increased by 21.2%, driven by the commercial offers of the operating companies, through financing, portability discounts, zero down payment, among others," says the OSIPTEL report.
It also indicates that, with respect to Mobile Services revenues, these increased by 13.1%, as a result of the greater number of mobile lines in service, which went from 40.2 million in March 2021 to 41.8 million in March 2022.
Meanwhile, revenues from the Fixed Internet business line grew by 11.6%, due to the greater number of connections, after reaching the record figure of 3.08 million as of March 2022, which meant an expansion of 7.7% compared to the number of connections registered at the end of the first quarter of 2021.
These three business lines (Mobile Services, Equipment Sales and Fixed Internet) continued to be the main revenue generators, representing 81.8% of total revenues from the telecommunications sector.
Evolution of the operating income of the companies
According to the information reported to OSIPTEL, during the first three months of 2022, the main companies in the telecommunications sector registered revenue growth compared to the same period of 2021.
Thus, the revenues of Entel, Americatel, Viettel, Claro, expanded by 23.6%, 16.1%, 10.8% and 10.7%, respectively. While Telefónica's revenue increased by 7.8% and Directv by 3.5%.
Financial performance of operators
The report prepared by OSIPTEL includes the analysis of the financial performance of the companies with the largest revenue participation in the sector: Telefónica del Perú S.A.A. (Telefónica), América Móvil Perú S.A.C. (Claro), Entel Perú S.A. (Entel) and Viettel Perú S.A.C. (Viettel).
During the first three months of 2022, Telefónica recorded higher operating income and, as a consequence, its EBITDA margin (16.9%) was slightly higher than that registered during the first three months of 2021 (15.9%). However, its net results were negative, mainly explained by the recognition of a greater accounting provision for income tax (associated with the processes of the tax controversy that it maintains with SUNAT).
For its part, Claro recorded an EBITDA margin of 23.5%, which was lower than that registered in the period from January to March 2021 (29.5%), this as a result of the growth of its operating expenses. Despite this, its financial profitability was higher than that registered in the same period of the previous year, due to the reduction of its financial expenses.
Meanwhile, Entel increased its EBITDA margin to 17.6%, which was associated with the expansion of its operating income. On the other hand, its financial profitability was in the positive territory, due to its lower net financial expenses.
Finally, in the case of Viettel, it is noteworthy that its EBITDA margin (40.5%) was above the rest of the companies analyzed in the aforementioned report. On the other hand, in terms of positive operating and financial returns, these were due to higher operating income (mainly in Mobile Services), which allowed it to cover its operating expenses and financial expenses.
The OSIPTEL report analyzes the evolution of the sector's revenues reported by the main operating companies and their financial performance during the first quarter of 2022. It considers information available as of May 2022, based on what was sent by the operating companies within the framework of the Periodic Information Requirements Standard, approved by Resolution No. 096-2015-CD/OSIPTEL.
To review the full document, click here.
