DGAP-News: Tele Columbus AG / Key word(s): Half Year Report/Half Year Results Tele Columbus AG: Mixed operational performance in Q2, important transac-tion milestones reached 2021-08-26 / 07:57 The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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PRESS RELEASE

Publication of second quarter and half-year results for fiscal year 2021

Mixed operational performance in Q2, important transaction milestones reached

- Q2 core revenues at EUR 115.7 million (excl construction work), down 0.6% year on year

- Added 6,000 Internet RGUs and 4,000 Telephony RGUs during Q2

- Reported EBITDA in Q2 at EUR 53.6 million, down 6.0% year on year due to lower reported revenues and higher opex

- Capex at EUR 35.7 million in Q2, up 11% year on year

- EUR 475 million of equity successfully raised and debt reduced by 25%

Berlin, 26 August 2021. Tele Columbus AG (ISIN: DE000TCAG172, WKN: TCAG17, "Tele Columbus", "the Company" or "the Group"), one of Germany's leading fibre network operators, today published its second quarter and half year results for fiscal year 2021.

Tele Columbus closed the second quarter 2021 with a mixed operational performance. In the consumer business, organic Internet RGU growth amounted to 6,000 net additions in Q2, which represents a year on year improvement. Moreover, Telephony RGUs improved year on year and amounted to 4,000 net additions in Q2. In the TV segment the negative trend of previous quarters continued, resulting in a customer base decrease of 22,000 RGUs in basic linear TV (incl 7,000 related to a data base correction). The customer base for Premium TV remained stable in Q2.

As previously highlighted, the B2B business faces some temporary headwinds, which have materialised in Q2. Revenues decreased by 3% year on year in the second quarter of 2021 due to a high comparable base in Q2 2020 as well as project delays in the current quarter. The absolute B2B Contribution Margin was EUR 2.0 million lower year on year because of fewer revenues and a higher cost base. Management expects further B2B headwinds for the remainder of the year due to requests for project delays by some clients.

The housing industry business successfully managed to keep the number of homes connected broadly stable in the second quarter of 2021 at around 3.3 million. The pipeline of prolongations and new projects remains intact with an increasing demand for fibre upgrades. In April, Tele Columbus prolonged a contract covering more than 7,000 homes in the strategically important city of Dresden where the Company will continue to supply the residents with multimedia services such as TV, high-speed internet and telephony. This underlines that Tele Columbus continues to be a partner of choice for the housing industry.

In the context of today's publication, Dr Daniel Ritz, CEO of Tele Columbus AG, comments: "In the second quarter, we continued to grow our customer base in the important segment of Internet and Telephony. Moreover, we have successfully raised EUR 475 million of equity and used EUR 360 million right away to reduce our leverage by around 25%. Following our annual general meeting in May, we now have a new supervisory board fully represented by Kublai and we are looking forward to implement our Fibre Champion strategy together with our main shareholder."

Q2 Financial Performance

Core revenues in the second quarter of 2021 amounted to EUR 115.7 million, down 0.6% year on year. This was the result of mix effects with Internet & Telephony revenues increasing to EUR 37.6 million, up by 3.1% year on year, and B2B revenues decreasing by 2.7% year on year to EUR 14.4 million. These developments almost compensated for a decline in TV revenues by 3.1% year on year to EUR 51.6 million as a result of RGU losses in a structurally challenging market.

Normalised EBITDA increased by 7.5% year on year to EUR 56.2 million. Non-recurring costs continued to decrease in the second quarter to EUR 2.6 million, down EUR 1.1 million year on year. Nevertheless, Reported EBITDA decreased by 6.0% year on year to EUR 53.6 million as a result of fewer revenues and higher opex.

Capex in the second quarter of 2021 increased by 11% year on year to EUR 35.7 million. This was mainly due to an increase in investments in network quality initiatives and regional fibre backbone rings.

As of 30 June 2021, the Group reported approximately 3.3 million homes connected. Moreover, the Company served 2,198,000 unique subscribers at the end of June, a decrease of 18,000 sequentially, which translates into 2,101,000 CATV RGUs (22,000 less quarter on quarter), 544,000 Premium TV RGUs (stable quarter on quarter), 615,000 Internet RGUs (6,000 more quarter on quarter) and 448,000 Telephony RGUs (4,000 more quarter on quarter).

Guidance FY 2021

- Revenues of between EUR 465-475 million

- Reported EBITDA of between 190-200 million

- CAPEX of between EUR 185-195 million

Upcoming Events

- 26 August 2021: Publication of Q2/H1 2021 results // Analyst and investor conference call at 10:00am CEST

- Webcast: (click here)

- Quarterly Statement: (click here)

- 12 November 2021: Publication of Q3 2021 results

Summary table


EURm                                  Q2 2020 Q2 2021 yoy % 
Core revenues                       116.4   115.7   (0.6) 
(like-for-like) 
 
Reported EBITDA                     57.1    53.6    (6.0) 
Reported EBITDA margin, %           47.6    46.3    (1.3)ppt 
Capex                               32.2    35.7    11.0 
Capex / Core revenues, %            27.7    30.9    3.2ppt 
 
 
RGU as per end of period (in '000)  Q2 2020 Q2 2021 chg in '000 
 
CATV                                2,168   2,101   (67) 
Internet^1                          589     616     27 
Telephony^2                         433     448     15 
Premium TV                          536     544     8 
 
 

1) Internet RGUs include individually-billed B2C, B2B and c94k bulk RGUs 2) Telephony RGUs include individually-billed B2C, B2B and exclude c94k bulk RGUs

About us

Tele Columbus AG is one of Germany's leading fibre network operators which reaches more than 3 million homes. Via its brand PYUR, the Company, offers high-speed internet including telephony and more than 250 TV channels. All of this via a digital entertainment platform that combines linear TV with video on demand entertainment. To its housing association partners the Tele Columbus Group offers tailored models of cooperation and state-of-the-art services such as telemetric and tenant portals. As a full-service partner for municipalities and regional utilities, the Company is actively supporting the fibre-based infrastructure and broadband internet expansion in Germany. For its business customers the Group offers carrier services and corporate solutions on its proprietary fibre network. Besides its headquarter in Berlin, the Company has locations in Hamburg, Leipzig, Ratingen and Unterföhring/Munich. Since January 2015, Tele Columbus AG is listed on the regulated market (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock exchange.

Disclaimer

This release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements reflect the Company's current knowledge and expectations and projections about future events. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and assumptions may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In light of these risks and uncertainties, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release may not occur and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this document.

This release contains references to certain non-GAAP financial measures, such as Normalized EBITDA and Capex, and operating measures, such as RGUs, ARPU, and Unique Subscribers calculations. These non-GAAP financial and operating measures should not be viewed in isolation as alternatives to measures of the Company's financial condition, results of operations or cash flows as presented in accordance with IFRS. The non-GAAP financial and operating measures used by the Company may differ from, and not be comparable to, similarly titled measures used by other companies.

All information contained in this release has been carefully prepared. However, no reliance may be placed for any purposes whatsoever on the information contained in this document or on its completeness. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is given by or on behalf of the Company or any of its directors, officers or employees or any other person as to the accuracy or completeness of the information or opinions contained in this document and no liability whatsoever is accepted by the Company or any of its directors, officers or employees nor any other person for any loss howsoever arising, directly or indirectly, from any use of such information or opinions or otherwise arising in connection therewith. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any information contained in this release, including forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contact: Leonhard Bayer Senior Director Investor Relations Phone +49 (30) 3388 1781 Fax +49 (30) 3388 9 1999 ir@telecolumbus.de www.telecolumbus.com

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August 26, 2021 01:57 ET (05:57 GMT)