DT Continues to Grow and Raises Guidance for 2021 Again

Deutsche Telekom has raised the bar for the second time in 2021. Following strong second quarter results, the Group has raised its guidance for adjusted EBITDA AL once again and now expects a figure for the full year of more than €37.2 billion. This is €0.2 billion more than stated when the guidance was raised in May. The guidance for free cash flow AL remains unchanged at more than €8 billion.

In the second quarter, net revenue rose 6.8 percent in organic reaching €26.6 billion. Adjusted EBITDA AL amounted to €9.4 billion. In organic terms, it rose by 1.1 percent. The development on a reported basis was not as strong on account of the weaker U.S. dollar compared with the prior-year period: Revenue was down by 1.7 percent and adjusted EBITDA AL down by 4.2 percent.

“This was yet another great team success,“ said Tim Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom. “Every area of the Group saw an increase in results in the first half of the year, thus continuing the Group’s growth story.“

At €2.8 billion, free cash flow AL was up 14.1 percent. At the same time, the Group stepped up its investments once again: up 16.8 percent to €4.3 billion in terms of cash capex excluding expenses for mobile spectrum.

There was a massive increase in net profit, which was almost 150 percent higher than a year earlier at €1.9 billion. Adjusted for special factors, net profit increased by 65.3 percent to €2.1 billion in the second quarter.

Revenue in the Germany operating segment increased to €5.9 billion, up by 0.9 percent against the prior-year period. Adjusted for the change in the composition of the Group and other effects, organic revenue growth stood at 1.8 percent. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA AL grew 3.7 percent to €2.4 billion.

Revenue at T-Mobile US increased by 5.4 percent compared with the same quarter of the prior year to $20.1 billion. Adjusted EBITDA AL decreased by 0.4 percent to $6.9 billion. Adjusted for the effects from the gradual withdrawal from the terminal equipment lease business model, adjusted EBITDA AL increased by 7.7 percent in organic terms (core adjusted EBITDA). The integration of Sprint, acquired effective April 1, 2020, is progressing faster than planned. T-Mobile US now expects synergies from the transaction to reach $2.9 to $3.1 billion in the current financial year. That is $100 million more than the company’s most recent guidance.

Growth in the European national companies accelerated in the second quarter of 2021. Revenue grew by 4.0 percent in organic terms compared with the prior-year period to €2.8 billion. Adjusted EBITDA AL increased by 5.3 percent in organic terms to €1.0 billion. Thus, the Europe operating segment recorded an organic increase in adjusted EBITDA AL for the 14th consecutive quarter.