Earnings Labs

Telecom Argentina S.A. (TEO)

Q1 2012 Earnings Call· Fri, May 4, 2012

$11.18

-0.36%

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Telecom Argentina, TEO, First Quarter 2012 Earnings Conference Call. Just a reminder today’s call is being recorded. Participating on today’s call, we have Mr. Franco Bertone, Chief Executive Officer of Telecom Argentina; Mr. Adrián Calaza, Chief Financial Officer; Mr. Pedro Insussarry, Finance Director; and Mrs. Solange Barthe Dennin, Manager of Investor Relations. And at this time, it is my pleasure to turn the conference over to Mr. Pedro Insussarry. Please go ahead, sir.

Pedro Insussarry

Management

Thank you, Gloria and good morning to everybody. On behalf of Telecom Argentina, I’d like to thank everybody for participating in this conference call. As Gloria mentioned, our moderator, the purpose of this call is to share with you the consolidated results of Telecom Argentina Group that corresponds to the first quarter of fiscal year 2012 that ended last March, 31, 2011. We would like to remind you that for all those that have not received our press release or presentation, you can call Solange Barthe and her team or download via Investor Relations section of our website located at www.telecom.com.ar/investors. Additionally, this conference call is being broadcasted through our webcast feature available in such section and can also be replayed through this same channel. Before we continue with the conference call, I would like to go over some Safe Harbor information and other details of the call, as we usually do in our quarterly conference calls. We would like to clarify that during the conference call and Q&A session, we may produce certain forward-looking statements about Telecom’s future performance, plans, strategies and targets. Such statements are subject to uncertainties that could cause Telecom’s actual results and operations to differ materially. Such uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the effects of the public emergency law and complementary regulation, the effects of ongoing industry and economic regulation, possible changes in demand for Telecom products and services, and the effects of marginal factors such as changes in general market or economic conditions and legislation or in regulation. Our press release dated February 3, 2012, a copy of which is being included in our Form 6-K report to be furnished to the SEC, describes certain factors that may affect any forward-looking statements that we may produce during this session. Furthermore, we urge…

Franco Bertone

Management

Thank you, Pedro and good morning to everyone. 1Q 2012 delivered solid topline growth in margin. Sales were strong and we kept growing more than the market basis. Overall performance spending line of exceeded guidance that we provided due to margin. Please turn to slide five for first quarter business highlights. Mobile business have to continued to retain market leadership of cost savings, land refining contain and being those movements if you are not MNP were well received and strengthen our position in the market. Value-added services continued to be the main driver of growth increasing 44% year-on-year, and unprecedented 62% in the last service revenue. Internet wireline revenues showed a strong performance. Our Bandwidth wireline 3G broadband product is providing – proving quite successful. FTTC service deployment program started and it’s ramping according to plan. Bandwidth fiscal year was up IFRS reporting and margin were up 10% from sales marketing efforts along with operational roaming cost due to subsidized electrical power rates being discontinued by last quarter. Nonetheless, financial performance very strong. Last week, we announced an $0.82 to the rate of dividend per share that will be faced are in excess. There is now a direct company phase of our mobile operation. And in slide six, it’s all public rate inflation In the Argentina mobile market, we continue leading the growth with a 10% year-on-year well above peers. We scored top place in the quarter and being from this performance in the postpaid segment in anticipation of MNP. On an annual basis, postpaid subscriber grew about 17% year-on-year and currently represents 32% of our subscriber base. Meanwhile, mobile ARPU rose to P$55 also 16% year-on-year in the last quarter. Please turn to slide seven, where we show that service revenue continue to expand as a consequence of the…

Operator

Operator

(Operator Instructions) Our first question today is from Alex Garcia with Citi. Alex Garcia – Citi: Good morning, everyone. I have two questions. The first one is regarding what are the potential outcomes from your cash position, I mean what are the alternatives, how flexible that is I mean, is there deadline you guys have to use it that would be my first question, where you guys could invest and money. The second question is very quickly it’s on provision for bad debt. And I saw that it jump it 77% year-on-year just wanted to see there was anything punctual or you guys have observe it some change in anyone of that trend? Thank you that was the two questions I have.

Franco Bertone

Management

Yes, I am – two questions as far as your use of our cash availability it’s really have no specific plan other than the increase of capital expenditure that are – we have been forecasting for the year. That includes a strong acceleration programs for data mobile, a brand new program for FTTC deployment and are usually the frequency spectrum action that we expect to be completed into the next quarter. But your remark that bad debt while it’s a high percentage increase that is very low figure in absolute terms talking about and increase a P$30 million compared to last year. As you indicated is really related to a specific effect related to our form of permanent of sale of internet download that our sales as postpaid I would say with contract we must have meet to that at least the level of internet expansion our customers that basically the direct consequence of the shortage of spectrum within experiencing. And therefore, level of service is there is a mix expectation of certain capital of customer that present to use mobile internet as a replacement of ADSL connections. There is no way, this is probably the design by just ways part of the population is expecting these service to perform. It doesn’t make those expectation is customer doesn’t use the service anymore at talks paying the bill that goes directly to bad debt it makes a significant percentage jump as you noted in percentage as I such before in terms of actual dollars either there limited effect to the P$30 million. Alex Garcia – Citi: A follow-up question if I may it doesn’t you guys have not seen the impact coming from the cut in the subsidies on electric PUCO some of the movements we expect sort of like a reduction in the disposable income. That doesn’t have to do – those are – these are other things right? It doesn’t – they are not connected, right?

Franco Bertone

Management

Yeah, correct. I mean the – we have not seen what you say as a matter of fact bad debt level remains with exception of specific case that I mentioned before, record low and we haven’t seen any impact on that performance coming from the overall microeconomic scenario constrain. Alex Garcia – Citi: Okay, thank you guys. Thank you very much.

Franco Bertone

Management

Thank you.

Operator

Operator

We’ll take our next question today from Gregg Abella with Investment Partners. Gregg Abella – Investment Partners: Good afternoon guys. I am going to deal with the elephant in the room here for a second. With these metrics in my opinion if this company were located anywhere else in the free world, we wouldn’t be dealing with a $14 ADR because of the 30 year possibly 40. So let me ask a quick question. I think that the issue really overhanging the stock seems to be whether or not the government would take some steps to nationalize Telecom Argentina. So have you been contracted at any level by the government regarding possible nationalization?

Franco Bertone

Management

Yes, thank you. Thank you for your question, now that we really find difficult to relocate somewhere else with our 26 million clients but we’re quite happy to operate here. No, we haven’t had any indication and honestly we don’t expect any surprise in that respect, and the payment of dividend that was approved as announced at shareholder meeting a week ago was approved and mostly by all the main shareholders including our (inaudible) shareholders and then I think is a good proof that we are in a quite carefully Gregg Abella – Investment Partners: Well, then as a quick just a follow-up and you consider possibly that the things that other corporations do to address a severe under valuation of security such as a stock repurchase plan or something of that nature.

Franco Bertone

Management

We have no plan in that respect, but always we are considering all the possibilities. Gregg Abella – Investment Partners: If I would hope that, you would take a look at your valuation in the market and consider in the short-term some – doing something to support plus the stock because it just – this evaluation is just same.

Franco Bertone

Management

Yeah. Appreciate your comment. Greg we share your views in some way and we look at our operation every day. Yeah, when we agree with the view on the metrics of the company.

Operator

Operator

(Operator Instructions) Our next question today is from Jennifer Leonard with Morgan Stanley. Jennifer Leonard – Morgan Stanley: Hi, good morning. I was hoping you could provide us with an update on the 2012 labor negotiations and then I have a follow-up question on spectrum auction.

Franco Bertone

Management

I’m sorry, yeah, labor negotiation has recently started. It is a process about two, three months and we expect it to be completed by the end of June but really too early to give you any indication. Just started as planned and according to usual early stage we have in rest of the industry cash. Jennifer Leonard – Morgan Stanley: Okay, thank you. And then if you could just update us on the spectrum auction process at this point?

Franco Bertone

Management

Well, the process is as a matter of fact somehow suspended or by being delayed on the verge of the conclusion of third phase. And the third phase is basically a pre-qualification process or defining has been made. Each one of the bidder had access to your common bid and tax (inaudible) as well as financial qualification based mainly in to some of the potential bidder not to qualify for the process. We are really waiting for the formal right solution only from the telecommunication authority any time in the next two to three weeks and after that and we expected and explain some very quick page number two with the actual option taking place hopefully in the first half of June. Jennifer Leonard – Morgan Stanley: Okay thank you very much.

Franco Bertone

Management

Thank you.

Operator

Operator

I will go next to (inaudible) with Barclays.

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst

Thank you I would like to ask a question regarding the Voluntary Reserves to Finance Working Capital Investments in the country that you deed on Telecom Personal. According to your last balance sheet cash situation in teleconference now looked for your case. So it could elaborate a little bit on the reasoning why almost P$1.2 billion or being reserved on the subsidiary. Thank you. Adrián Calaza: The reason why I mean our balance sheet is such that way is to comply with CMB resolution of last year. There really in concrete sense certified that known allocated. I mean all numbers non-distributed income should we allocated with specific reserve and they either being future dividend or future reserve. So, honestly there is no much contend and significance of those figures, because are really accounted figures and very, very deeper relation with the actual investment levels what we have is just the balance sheet has to be stated that way. And that’s why that would be – I would have give in a much important to the figure that you appear that because I said I mean that is – they carry no relation with the actual investment plans that we are executing.

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst

Thank you. Adrián Calaza: Thanks.

Operator

Operator

Next, we’ll go Federico Chateau with Raymond James. Federico Chateau – Raymond James: Yes. Good afternoon, thanks for a call. I have two questions. The first one is related to your cash position considering that a big portion of that cash is a peso denominated. My question is what’s the room on the strategy of the company for preventing rental changes in the currency to affect your cash position? And the second one is regarding the – a working capital, we show this quarter net outflow of around $60 million, I was – the question is, is that something that you are going to see just this quarter and should we expect working capital to continue generate naturally cash flow going forward? Adrián Calaza: Okay. I’ll try to answer your two questions. The first one related with the our cash position, we will try to apply it locally for CapEx spend and for – we will try to maintain our conservative approach with the financial use as discussed for preventing what you were mentioning – loosen out the – of the exchange rate. We are working with some instruments such as and yet our local funds that our – let’s say our coverage for an exchange rate evolution it’s basically our money that is intended for its growth. And relative to the second question, question on the working capital, it’s especially normal in this period of the year and in first quarter, we did a lot of our CapEx in the last quarter of last year. So we are saying basically saying all of this CapEx of the last quarter in the first of the year. Federico Chateau – Raymond James: Okay, thanks.

Franco Bertone

Management

Okay, thanks.

Operator

Operator

(Operator Instructions) And we will go back to Alex Garcia with Citi Alex Garcia – Citi: Hi. Thanks for taking another question. When I look at slide eight from your presentation, and I see MOU and messages dropping but on the other hand, ARPU is coming up. Is it – my – the first thing that comes to my mind is that your clients are doing – using one of those messengers from the internet and typing less SMSs and calling less people. So it seems that there is – and we have seen that in the past. So I do understand that there is some change in the client behavior but my question is in terms of margins like when we look at voice, when we look at SMS and when we look at data plans, how do you describe yet, how does that changing behavior. First of all, if you agree with my observation that clients are using more broadband. And how does that play your margin?

Franco Bertone

Management

Right, I think is a very important question, I think I made the remark on the (inaudible) I go back to it. What you note is very much – in the numbers it’s very much correct, our ARPU is increasing strongly, that physical in terms of message experiment and the MRU and particularly the message improvement are dropping. The main reason for it is that some time last year the message experiment was about year ago, we reshaped in a very deep manner our rates and pricing for incorrect access to prepaid customers. We had I would say now we are in an adequate proposal for incentigrating internet browsing through our large prepaid customer base on the other end. The abilities, the qualities, and the capacities are the terminals that I will be celebrating that our customer base is very different and is very upgraded from what it was a year ago. And therefore, we believe that was the right time and that was about March last year to take advantage of the capacity of internet browsing that the vast majority of the terminals used by our prepaid counter and nowadays has to reshape our pricing and push strongly for a data usage that inevitably, partially replace short messages and so that’s exactly what it is. And on the one side, you see a total reduce about 10%, but on the other end revenues from same SMS has increased as we discontinued certain, very aggressive levels of promotion and discount we have in place. So the drop in physical number of messages exchanged by our customer did not affect SMS revenues at all, that as a matter of fact did increase. But – and most importantly, our internet browsing went up 80% in terms of revenues and the largest factor…

Franco Bertone

Management

Thank you.

Operator

Operator

And gentlemen there are no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the call back over to you for additional or concluding remarks.

Franco Bertone

Management

Well, thank you so much for being in our conference call today. Have a good day and please get in contact with us that you’re convenient with our Investor Relations (inaudible). Thanks.

Operator

Operator

And ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude our conference for today. I’d like to thank everyone for their participation.