Telefonica CEO Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete highlighted progress in its drive to digitise its operations and refocus the company’s business in Latin America as it swung to profit during Q3.

In its results statement, the executive said the operator group made further progress in its strategic priorities in the quarter. These included moving operations to digital technologies and “further optimisation” of the footprint of its Hispam unit, which covers assets in Central and South America.

During Q3 it finally completed the sale of its business in Costa Rica, having had a previous attempt to divest it fall through in May 2020. Shortly after the end of the quarter it announced a buyer had been found for its operation in El Salvador, its second attempt to offload that division.

Alvarez-Pallete also noted developments in its fibre infrastructure business and “very solid revenue growth” for its Telefonica Tech division, which deals with units related to cloud, security, IoT and Big Data.

In Q3 the operator booked net income of €706 million. This compared to a loss of €160 million in Q3 2020, though last year’s result included an impairment charge on its business in Argentina and the impact of Covid-19 (coronavirus).

Revenue fell 11 per cent year-on-year to €9.3 billion largely due to changes in its business, such as consolidation of units and asset sales, as it refocuses the company.

Alvarez-Pallete said: “These results, and the operational progress, new projects and investments they reflect, demonstrate a further significant step towards the economic and social recovery of the markets in which we operate as the world continues to emerge from the worst effects of the pandemic.”