Amé rica Mó vil Posts Loss on Weak Currencies
October 19 2015 - 8:40PM
Dow Jones News
MEXICO CITY—Mexican telecommunications company Amé rica Mó vil
SAB reported a net loss for the third quarter as the sharp
depreciation of the Mexican peso and the Brazilian real against the
U.S. dollar led its financial costs to increase almost
fourfold.
The company controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim registered a
net loss of 2.88 billion pesos ($175 million) in the July-September
period, compared with a net profit of 12.62 billion pesos in the
year-earlier quarter.
"The foreign exchange losses incurred have not had an impact on
cash flows. They partly originate in intercompany financing
positions," Amé rica Mó vil said in a release. The foreign exchange
loss of 45.11 billion pesos was partly offset by a drop in other
financial expenses.
Revenue in the quarter rose 1.2 % to 223.6 billion pesos, while
operating cash flow measured by earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, fell 8.2% to 66.73
billion pesos.
The company's wireless subscriber base decreased by 401,000 in
the quarter as disconnections of customers in Brazil, Ecuador and
Colombia were partially countered by new subscribers in Mexico,
Central America, Argentina and Chile.
Amé rica Mó vil ended the quarter with 288.4 million wireless
subscribers, up 1% from a year earlier. It also had 34.9 million
fixed lines with 23.4 million broadband subscribers and 21.6
million pay TV subscribers.
Except for revenue, the results were below expectations. The
company had been expected to report net profit of 9.2 billion pesos
on sales of 220.7 billion pesos, with Ebitda of 69.3 billion pesos,
according the median estimate of nine equities analysts polled by
The Wall Street Journal.
August marked a year since Mexican mobile unit Telcel was
required to complete incoming calls from competitors without
charge, while still paying to connect outgoing calls to their
networks. The asymmetric regulations on the dominant carrier,
imposed under new telecommunications laws, were among reasons that
encouraged U.S. giant AT&T Inc. to move into Mexico this year
with the purchase of two smaller mobile operators.
Amé rica Mó vil said that both AT&T and Spain's Telefó nica
are "drumming up their investment efforts and presence in the
market," and that Amé rica Mó vil "should not be in a position to
subsidize our competitors by way of asymmetric interconnection
rates and other regulatory asymmetries."
The company also renewed its call to be allowed to offer pay TV
service in Mexico, from which is has been barred.
Amé rica Mó vil shares closed up 2.2% Monday at 14.57 pesos
ahead of the report's release but are down 10% in the past 12
months.
Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 19, 2015 20:25 ET (00:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
America Movil SAB de CV (NYSE:AMX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
America Movil SAB de CV (NYSE:AMX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024