BUSINESS

Lower profits for Spain's telecom giant Telefonica in Q1

File photo of a woman holding a smartphone at a consumer electronics show. Photo: Picture alliance/dpa.

At the end of the first quarter, net financial debt moved down by 23.3% to €27.453 billion on a year-on-year basis

Lower first-quarter profits were reported at Spanish telecom giant Telefonica on Thursday, although for the full year, the company said it is on track to meet its targets.

For the first three-month period of 2022, the Madrid-headquartered company reported a net income of €706 million ($738 million) or €0.12 per share, compared with €886 million or €0.15 per share, reported for the same period last year.

Operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) increased to €3.75 billion, from €3.42 billion, posted for the March quarter of 2021.

At the end of the first quarter, net financial debt moved down by 23.3% to €27.453 billion on a year-on-year basis.

Revenues for the first quarter rose to €10.88 billion, from €10.34 billion reported a year ago.

Looking ahead, for the fiscal 2022, the company said that "the growth in both revenues and OIBDA is on track to meet the financial targets set by the company for the full year, which are to achieve low single digit growth in both items organically."