Cellnex closed 2022 with a 38% increase in revenues, which reached 3.5 billion euros.
This result was achieved thanks to the combination of organic growth and acquisition consolidation, which led to a 37% growth in EBITDA and a 39% growth in recurring free cash flow. In 2022, the firm completed the acquisition of CK Hutchison’s telecom tower assets in the UK and extended service contracts with several operators in Spain, Portugal and the UK.
For 2023, Cellnex forecasts revenues between 4.1 and 4.3 billion euros, an EBITDA of approximately 3 billion euros and a recurring leveraged free cash flow between 1.525 and 1.625 billion euros.
The financial indicators reflect the increased geographical footprint as a result of the integration of the acquisitions made in 2021 and 2022 and the strength of the Group’s organic business. The contracted future sales portfolio is 110 billion euros. In February 2023, Cellnex will have available liquidity of around €4.4 billion. The company has achieved the main objectives set for 2022 in the ESG Masterplan for the period 2021-2025 regarding the environment, social responsibility and good governance.
The Cellnex CEO underlined the successful integration of the recent acquisitions and the organic growth in line with the medium-term projections. Indeed Tobias MartinezCEO of Cellnex, underlined how “Due to the successful integration of recent acquisitions, our key financial ratios – revenues, EBITDA and recurring cash flow – grew by more than 37%, in line with guidance provided for the current year. We also recorded significant organic growth, in line with our medium-term projections.”
“The change in the macroeconomic context”continued the CEO, “It has obviously impacted our business, particularly in regards to cost management. After a long period of low inflation, inflation has risen significantly in most of our markets in 2022.
Cellnex has long-term contracts with its operator customers, most of which provide for compliance with the IPC. While this has served us well, we have had to manage our costs carefully. We have also been impacted by higher borrowing costs, even though most of our debt is fixed rate, which limits the impact of higher interest rates on our financial performance.”