Handset and Digital Sales Help Telefónica

Telefónica reported a 2% year-on-year rise in revenues on an organic basis to 12.1 billion euros in the second quarter, fuelled by a 20% increase in handset sales and a 0.7% increase in service revenues. In particular, digital services revenues rose 28.5% to 1.7 billion euros in the quarter, boosted by enterprise demand for cloud and security services. The Madrid-based operator reiterated its guidance that revenues will grow 1% in 2018 on an organic basis. Capital spending was up 5.5% on an organic basis in the first half of 2018 to 3.9 billion euros.

José María Álvarez-Pallete, Executive Chairman, said: "We continue investing and expanding our ultra broadband networks. As of June, we have 47.3 million premises passed with proprietary FTTx/cable network, (+15% year-on-year), LTE coverage grew by 6 percentage points to an average 73% in all our footprint. Lastly, we remain convinced that the key levers to a sustainable digital future lie with our capacity to radically transform our networks, create a customer-centric digital ecosystem, establish digitalisation as the cornerstone for generating efficiencies and remain at the vanguard of cognitive intelligence." source: Telefónica statement