KPN said on Wednesday that it had made a "solid start to the year", despite current inflationary pressures pushing up its wage bill.

Service revenues rose by 3.6% in the first quarter, driven mainly by growth in its consumer business (+4.5%) and to a lesser extent by business services (+3.2%).

Its adjusted operating profit (Ebitda AL), a key measure of profitability in the sector, followed suit, rising by 3.6% to 605 million euros over the first three months of the year.

In its press release, KPN stated that it had revised upwards its financial forecasts for 2024, but explained that this revision was due to the acquisition of Youfone, completed at the beginning of April.

The Dutch telecom operator now expects full-year adjusted operating profit (Ebitda AL) of around 2.5 billion euros, with free cash flow (FCF) of at least 890 million.

Following this unsurprising publication, KPN shares were down 0.2% on Wednesday on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. The share price has risen by 9% since the start of the year.

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