Mexico City. Mexican telecom giant América Móvil, owned by pole Carlos Slim, said on Tuesday that its board of directors has approved a plan to dismantle its tower infrastructure for mobile services spread across Latin American countries.
América Móvil, who is also present in the United States, as well as in Central and Eastern Europe, explained that the operation seeks to maximize the value of assets, by forming independent entities with their management and staff, focusing only on the construction and deployment of the towers, according to Reuters.
The company said the project is subject to compliance with applicable laws in each region, as well as obtaining the necessary licenses, including approval by its shareholders.
“We expect the asset realignment to be completed in 2021,” the company added in its fourth-quarter results report, which showed a surprising 79.6% jump in its net profit for the period to 37,312 million pesos ($ 1,870). Millions).
América Móvil reported an attributable net profit of 46,853 million pesos ($ 2,332 million) in fiscal 2020, which is 30.8% lower than the 67,731 million ($ 3,372 million) earnings recorded during the previous year. , According to the company’s quarterly accounts.
“We expect the asset realignment to be completed in 2021,” the company said in its fourth-quarter results report, which showed a surprising 79.6% jump in net profit for the period, to 37,312 million pesos ($ 1,870). Millions).
América Móvil attributed the strong performance to foreign exchange gains derived from the strengthening of the Mexican peso, which offset a 3.1% decline in its total revenues.
The company’s sales grew 0.9% in 2020, to 1016 billion pesos ($ 50,582 million). Service sales grew 3.3%, reaching 851,822 million pesos ($ 42,408 million), while equipment revenue declined 81%, at 159,026 million pesos ($ 7,900 million).
After adding 6.8 million mobile subscribers in the last quarter, América Móvil ended the year with 287 million subscribers, 3.4% more than the previous year. The new lines included 2.7 million postpaid subscribers and 4 million prepaid subscribers. Brazil led the postpaid sector with nearly two million subscribers, followed by Peru with 223,000 subscribers and Colombia with 201,000 subscribers.
On the fixed-line platform, the operator connected 208,000 broadband access ports, nearly half of them in Colombia, bringing the total to 29.8 million, up 5.4% from the previous year, according to Europa Press.
On the other hand, total costs for the year decreased by 0.9% to 687.288 million pesos (34.200 million USD). The item of service costs grew 1.9%, to 302.881 million pesos (15,000 million USD). Equipment expenses contracted 4%, at 167,546 million pesos ($ 8,340 million). On the other hand, commercial, general and administrative expenses were reduced by 1.8% to 212,136 million pesos (10,500 million USD).
With all this, its operating gross profit (Ebitda) expanded by 5% in fiscal year 2020, to 329.599 million pesos (16.400 million USD). The company’s operating profit was 165,355 million pesos (US $ 8,200 million), an increase of 6.8%.
In the fourth quarter, América Móvil posted an attributable net profit of 37,312 million pesos ($ 1,850 million), an increase of 79.6% over the same quarter of the previous year; Its turnover was at 255,029 million pesos (12,700 million USD), 3.1% lower.
