Spain's Cellnex, Europe's largest mobile tower operator, on Monday posted a 6.1% rise in adjusted gross operating profit for the first nine months of the year and a 7% increase in revenue to €2.9 billion ($3.11 billion), thanks to the deployment of more towers.

Cellnex posted a smaller net loss of €140 million, compared to €198 million in the same period last year. It attributed this year's loss to the negative effect of its assets in Austria, among other factors.

The company said it plans to sell its subsidiary in Austria before the end of the year and its business in Ireland in the first quarter of 2025.

The results show "the strength of our key indicators quarter after quarter," Cellnex CEO Marco Patuano said in a statement, referring to revenue or free cash flow, while stressing that the metrics are in line with the company's 2024 and medium-term targets.

Cellnex slightly reduced its net financial debt to €17.5 billion through September of this year. The company said it has immediate access to liquidity of around €4 billion.

(1 dollar = 0.9332 euros)

(Reporting by Joan Faus; edited by Inti Landauro; edited in Spanish by Javi West Larrañaga)