Telefonica Swings to Net Loss on One-Off Charges

By Adria Calatayud

Telefonica reported a swing to a net loss for the fourth quarter due to one-off charges at its Spanish business and U.K. joint venture, but forecast higher revenue and earnings this year.

The Spanish telecommunications group on Thursday posted a net loss of 2.15 billion euros ($2.33 billion) for the fourth quarter, which it attributed to a provision for layoffs in Spain and an impairment charge on its U.K. joint venture Virgin Media-O2. For the year-earlier period, the company made a profit of EUR525 million.

Quarterly revenue was down 0.5% at EUR10.15 billion.

Underlying operating income before depreciation and amortization--or Oibda--rose 1.6% to EUR3.47 billion. Telefonica's Spanish business posted a small increase in underlying Oibda, returning to growth for the first time since 2019.

Analysts polled by the company had forecast revenue of EUR9.99 billion, underlying Oibda of EUR3.335 billion and a net loss of EUR742 million.

For 2024, Telefonica guided for growth of around 1% in revenue and growth in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of between 1% and 2%.

The board declared a final dividend for 2023 of EUR0.15 a share and said it intends to pay dividends totaling EUR0.30 a share for 2024.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 22, 2024 01:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

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