Tim, Labriola: “It makes no sense to stay with the minority on the web”
“Selling the entire network company or staying with a minority stake is a decision that the board of directors and shareholders will have to take – said the CEO of Tim Peter Labriola – but we must not get distracted. Without prejudice to the antitrust constraints, can you get all the advantages by selling a minority stake?” asks the CEO.
“If it becomes a financial investment for Tim, it makes sense to keep a stake only if there will be an upside in the future. These are issues to be addressed in the board of directors”. According to Labriola anyway “Maintaining a minority stake in the network doesn’t seem to be a viable option but within the negotiations all the options can be reviewed”.
“Negotiations in Progress”
The CEO is satisfied with the results achieved but does not want to talk about the offers received for the network by Kkr and the one that must come from Cdp and Macquire. “We are in the middle of a negotiation – he said – and so it is inappropriate to set targets for Netco and a whole other series of details, which will be released as soon as possible ”.
If no extraordinary transaction is completed, according to the CEO, there should be no problems over the period of the plan to 2025, but the company’s high debt, approximately 20 billion, makes it difficult to implement consolidation strategies that are all horizon among telcos across Europe. Still on the subject of extraordinary operations, Labriola replied and commented that “there are no negotiations or interlocution with Iliad”.
Difficult dividend
As for the dividend, it is difficult to be able to return to distribution. The first goal is to improve numbers and deleverage. “Many things have changed in one year – added Labriola – we came out of 3 profit warnings. We had an all-time low level of credibility from a market perspective. We did what we promised to do in accordance with the forecasts (which were very conservative in any case ed). Now Brazil is doing well and the domestic market should finally return to growth in terms of revenues and margins after 7 years”. On the Stock Exchange, the stock is equal at 30 cents per share.