Čtvrtek 28. března 2024, svátek má Soňa
130 let

Lidovky.cz

Telefónica O2 planning retreat from Czech Rep: report

  17:02

Telefónica O2 is reportedly preparing to offload Czech operations with a Chinese investor looking to buy

Telefónica's global headquarters in Madrid foto: TelefónicaČeská pozice

According to Financial Times Deutschland (FTD), the mobile giant Telefónica O2 is planning to sell an unspecified share in its operations in the Czech Republic. On Friday, the server novinky.cz quoted an anonymous source in the telecoms sector as saying Telefónica O2 plans to withdraw entirely from the Czech Republic within two years with a Chinese investor likely to take over. 

 “At present, China Mobile, the world’s largest operator in terms of revenue is being mentioned as serious candidate for preliminary negotiations [on the purchase of Telefónica O2, Czech Republic], the source told novinky.cz, adding that the potential new owner would also purchase the rights to use the Telefónica O2 brand.        

Novinky.cz reports that for several weeks now speculation has been circulating among Telefónica O2 employees about a change of ownership.

‘People are saying quietly that they may pull out of the Czech Republic and sell up here.’

Company management categorically refute the reports.  “We don’t have any plans to sell our Czech or any other operations, it’s just speculation. To the contrary, we are expanding our investments in the Czech Republic and we are continuing to concentrate 100 percent on our European business operations,” spokesman for Telefónica O2, Czech Republic, Hany Farghali, told novinky.cz.          

According to the FTD, Telefónica O2 is planning to at least reduce its stakes in the companies Portugal Telecom, Zon Multimedia, Hispasa and Amper, as well as its Czech operations. The daily says this is due to the firm’s high level of debt which currently stands at around €55 billion (around Kč 1.4 trillion), which is holding the company back from investing in new segments. What’s more, the company will require around €4 billion in 2012 just to service its debts.   

With the debt crisis in Europe growing in severity, the outlook for the telecommunications is not promising. “There’s not much money which can be invested into the telecommunications sector,” an industry insider told FTD.       

“People are saying quietly that they may pull out of the Czech Republic and sell up here. There’s nothing official and everyone is pretending that no big changes are planned here, nevertheless, when people meet outside work they speak and speculate about it. There was talk about it around half a year ago then it went quiet, but now it’s happening again,” novinky.cz’s source in Telefónica O2 said.

Despite the rumors, Telefónica O2 invested almost Kč 3.7 billion in the first six months of 2011, approximately the same amount as in the same period in 2010. The operator’s Czech operations are also of regional importance in so far as it administers part of its German network from the Czech Republic.   

In the first nine months of 2011, the operator’s profits in the Czech Republic fell by 44 percent to Kč 5.8 billion compared with the same period in 2010. Telefónica says the main reason for the sharp fall was a one off accounting loss.  The operator’s revenues fell by 6.3 percent year-on-year in the first nine months, saying that most of the decrease showed through in the third quarter.    

The company has reported an increase of 39,000 subscribers in the third quarter thanks to growing demand for mobile internet and fewer contract cancellations.

Autor:

Akční letáky
Akční letáky

Všechny akční letáky na jednom místě!