Q3 Highlights

  • Total revenue of $1.6 billion; organic service revenue down 0.2% year-on-year [ii]
  • Adjusted EBITDA [iii] of $562 million; organic growth of 4.0% [ii]
  • EBITDA margin focus and capex discipline delivered improved cash flow margins
  • Latin America businesses delivered further strong growth in cable and mobile data:
    • HFC network expanded by 180,000 homes passed; total cable homes passed of 7.915 million
    • Added 679,000 4G users; total of 12.3 million mobile data customers;
    • Almost 50% of Group service revenue now generated by cable and Latam mobile data.
  • Africa businesses delivered 11.2% organic service revenue growth i with an EBITDA margin of 28.5%

Key financial indicators

$m   Q3 2016   Q3 2015   % change
Revenue 1,555 1,600 (2.8%)
Organic growth (2.0%) (7.2%)
Service revenue 1,466 1,481 (1.0%)
Organic growth (0.2%) 5.8%
Adjusted EBITDA 562 547 2.7%
Organic growth 4.0% 7.6%
Adjusted EBITDA margin 36.1% 34.2%

Capex

[iv]

214 346 (38.1%)
Net debt 4,152 4,268 (2.7%)

[i] The financial information presented in this earnings release is with Guatemala (55% owned) & Honduras (66.7% owned) as if fully consolidated.

See page 17 for reconciliation with IFRS numbers. The comparative 2015 financial information in this earnings release has been re-presented as a result of the classification of our operations in DRC as discontinued operations (in accordance with IFRS 5).

[ii] Organic growth represents year-on year-growth in local currency (includes regulatory changes) and constant perimeter; service revenue is defined as Group revenue excluding telephone & equipment sales

[iii] Adjusted EBITDA is defined as reported EBITDA excl. restructuring and integration costs and other one-off items. See page 4 for reconciliation

[iv] Balance sheet capital expenditure, excludes spectrum and license costs

Millicom Chief Executive Mauricio Ramos commented:

“Our absolute strategic focus is a two-fold reconfiguration of our business. Firstly, we are driving rapid growth in mobile data and expanding the cable footprint, to reconfigure our revenue mix towards these high growth segments as voice and SMS revenues weaken further. Second, we are reconfiguring the cost structure of the business, by enhancing our operational efficiency.

In the third quarter we made further progress in this transformation. In cable we built 180 thousand HFC homes, converting 54 thousand copper homes and adding 126 thousand new homes. Our total footprint is now close to our year-end target of 8.0 million homes passed and penetration of homes passed remain firmly on track. In mobile we drove smartphone penetration deeper into the customer base, expanded our 4G networks and added 679 thousand 4G users in Latam, delivering the superior experience and higher value services that our customers want. Mobile data customers increased to 33.2% of our total mobile base and data ARPU continued to grow in the quarter.

Market conditions remain very challenging in several mobile markets, particularly in Colombia, our largest market, where macro-economic headwinds and continuing competitive pressures accelerated the decline in voice and SMS revenues. This significantly constrained our growth in the quarter but we are holding our price discipline, driving operational and capex efficiency gains and improving cash generation. Reflecting these changes our adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 36.1%.”

Outlook

No change to Outlook for Full Year 2016:

Basis Outlook
Service revenue(a) To grow low to mid-single digit
Adjusted EBITDA(b) To grow mid to high-single digit
Capex(c) Around $1.10 billion

(a) Service revenue is Group revenue excluding telephone and equipment sales

(b) Adjusted EBITDA excludes restructuring and integration costs and other one-off items

(c) Capex excludes the impact of spectrum and licence costs

The outlook for 2016 is based on constant currency, at a constant perimeter with Guatemala and Honduras fully consolidated and on our current assessment of the emerging markets macroeconomic outlook.

Conference call details

A presentation and conference call to discuss these results will take place at 13.00 Stockholm / 13.00 Luxembourg / 12.00 London / 07.00 New York, on Tuesday 25 October. Dial-in numbers:

Sweden   + 46 (0) 8 5033 6575
UK + 44 (0) 203 043 2002
US + 1 719 457 1036
Luxembourg + 352 2786 1395
Access code: 132288

A live audio stream of the analyst presentation can also be accessed at www.millicom.com. Please dial in / log on 10 minutes prior to the start of the conference call to allow time for registration. Slides to accompany the conference call will be available at www.millicom.com

Financial calendar

Millicom (NASDAQ:MICC) (STO:MIC) will publish Results for 2016 Fourth Quarter and Full Year on Wednesday 8 February 2017.