Telefónica obtains capital gains of 350 million with the sale of networks and exchanges in Spain | companies
Telefónica continues to take advantage of the sale of assets considered non-strategic in the Spanish market. Of these, a large part are linked to the migration of copper to the fiber. Thus, Telefónica de España, within the results from disposals of property, plant and equipment, recorded in 2021 capital gains of almost 350 million euros from the disposal of non-key assets for the company’s activities, mainly power plant buildings, data centers, cables of copper and constitution of usufructs. In 2020, the capital gains from this type of divestment had been around 202 million.
The company carried out various operations in this area during the past year. In its annual financial report for 2021, Telefónica de España explains that, in December of last year, it formalized the sale with subsequent leasing of part of its copper network, in which it is certain that on a certain date they will stop be necessary, as the copper plants that are distributed throughout the national geography are turned off. The signing of this operation meant for Telefónica de España the recognition of a capital gain amounting to 183 million euros.
The operation affected 768 copper plants. The cables subject to the sale were subsequently leased by Telefónica for a period ranging between 24 and 42 months.
In addition, in 2021, Telefónica de España proceeded to constitute a real right of usufruct over certain sites (199) for 28 to 30 years. The total capital gain obtained in the year amounted to 22.35 million euros.
Optical fiber
Similarly, in March of last year, the company signed a contract for the sale of a series of vertical fiber infrastructures (FTTH), located in different locations, registering a capital gain of almost nine million euros.
In turn, in the section on assets held for sale, Telefónica de España signed a new contract in 2021 for the sale of two data centers to Data Holdings Future, for an amount greater than 80 million euros. The total capital gain in the year for this operation amounted to 17.6 million.
The results from disposals and others include in 2021 the capital gain generated as a result of the formalization in April 2021 of the sale by Telefónica de España of its stake in Acens, a subsidiary dedicated to the business cloudfor an amount of 75.1 million euros.
In the report, Telefónica de España explains that on April 30, 2021, it proceeded to sell 100% of the shares held in the company Acens Technologies in favor of Telefónica Cibersecurity & Cloud Tech, for an amount of 110 million euros, paid in its entirety. Previously, Telefónica de España agreed to distribute a dividend by Acens, for an amount of 10 million.
Already in 2020, Telefónica de España made a significant contribution of funds to Tech. That year, Telefónica Cibersecurity Tech acquired the assets that constituted the economic unit of the cybersecurity and cloud businesses of the Spanish division, for 10 and 25.5 million euros. euros, respectively.
The group approved these transactions to reinforce the businesses of the new Tech, especially in the information technology segment for SMEs, in parallel with different acquisitions in the field cloud in the UK, Spain and Germany.
Revenue evolution
Business. Telefónica de España registered a turnover of 7,673 million euros in 2021, 5% less than in the previous year. The company was penalized by the drop in revenue of 9.3% from traditional business and 15% from voice services.
Bills. Operating expenses increased by 15.7%, to 8,490 million euros, due to the provision of 1,197 million, derived from the voluntary retirement plan (PSI). Company taxes stood at 213 million, 3.1% less.
Benefits. In this scenario, marked by the impact of the PSI, the result before taxes was negative by 93 million euros, while the net result was negative by 24.7 million.
