Telefonica CEO Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete pointed to a successful quarter across all of its operating markets, as it reported a bump in organic revenue.

In an earnings statement, Telefonica noted organic revenue was up 3.2 per cent year-on-year to €10.9 billion due to growth across all its units, including double-digit increases in Brazil and Latin America.

The organic figure included 50 per cent of the results from a merger in the UK with Virgin Media in the UK: its inorganic revenue fell 9 per cent to €9.4 billion due to the de-consolidation of O2 UK, but this was offset by foreign exchange movements.

Net income fell 20 per cent to €706 million, also due to the merger with Virgin Media. However, this drop was less than expected, as it benefitted from operational efficiencies, price rises due to inflation in most markets, favourable currencies, and growth in cloud gaming and cybersecurity sales.

Alvarez-Pallete added Telefonica’s start to the year “against a backdrop of inflationary and geopolitical instability is evidence of the company’s strength in facing the most adverse situations”.

Fibre and 5G
In particular, Telefonica was keen to point out its fibre play, which continues to bear fruit, in addition to its 5G rollout.

Telefonica explained its 5G network was currently available to more than 400 cities and towns in the UK, 250 cities across Germany, 21 cities in Brazil and 82 per cent of the population in Spain.

The company ended the quarter with a customer base of 368.3 million, up 1.1 per cent.