Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica said Thursday it will carry out a strategic review after posting an annual loss for the second straight year, due mainly to write-offs from the sale of subsidiaries in Latin America.
The company booked a net loss of 49 million euros ($51 million) last year, narrowing from a net loss of 892 million euros in 2023, when it took a hit from writing down the value of its British unit VMO2.
The former state monopoly said the 2024 results reflected the depreciation of its assets in Latin America, where it is reducing its exposure in the face of stiff competition and an unpredictable legal environment.
It booked write-offs of 1.27 billion euros in Argentina, 397 million in Chile and 108 million in Peru.
Without these extraordinary items, Telefonica said it booked an adjusted profit of 2.3 billion euros.
The company said its full-year revenue had risen 1.6 percent to 41.3 billion euros, above its target of revenue growth of around one percent.
Telefonica has launched a strategic shift towards its key markets in Spain, Britain, Brazil and Germany in a bid to reduce its debt and bolster profitability.
“Telefonica has travelled a long road of challenges and successes,” said chief executive Marc Murtra, who was appointed to the post last month.
“Our priorities are a strategic review based on industrial logic, maintaining focus on key markets and core businesses, and promoting consolidation in Europe,” he added during a press conference called to discuss the results.
The results of the strategic review will be announced during the second half of 2025, Murtra said.
Earlier this week Telefonica agreed to sell its subsidiary in Argentina for $1.2 billion, prompting the government of President Javier Milei to announce an investigation over competition concerns.
It has also recently sold its subsidiaries in Guatemala and Costa Rica and concluded a deal to cede its Colombian branch.
Turbulent period
More asset sales in Latin America could follow.
“We are open to any divestment opportunity” if “it creates value for the shareholder,” said Telefonica’s chief financial officer Laura Abasolo, while declining to comment on “market rumours” regarding sales of specific assets.
Telefonica has been through a turbulent period since Saudi group STC took a 9.9 percent stake in September 2023.
That led the Spanish state to re-enter the group’s capital to defend its “strategic” role of providing services to the country’s armed forces.
Telefonica has been facing increased competition in its home market following the recent merger of Orange and MasMovil, and the sale of Vodafone Espana to British investment fund Zegona.
Telefonica last year announced it would be cutting 3,400 of the 16,500 jobs it has in Spain.
Under previous chief executive Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete, Telefonica nearly halved its debt pile to 27.2 billion euros at the end of last year from 50 billion euros in 2016.
But it remains high for the firm, which is looking to make savings to fund its investments, especially for the rollout of the latest 5G connectivity.