Telefónica lost 1.731 billion euros through March due to the sale of its subsidiaries in Argentina and Peru.

Telefónica recorded a net loss of €1.731 billion in the first quarter of 2025 due to capital losses recorded from the sale of its subsidiaries in Argentina and Peru. Excluding these extraordinary items, net profit would have reached €427 million from January to March of this year , 19.7% less than the €532 million it earned in the same period of 2024. This is one of the largest quarterly losses in Telefónica's history, exceeding the €1.003 billion loss it recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024, also due to the depreciation of assets in Latin America and its technology subsidiary Tech, although below the €2.154 billion it lost in the last quarter of 2023.

Revenue in the first quarter of 2025 fell 2.9% to €9.221 billion, and adjusted gross operating profit (EBITDA) reached €3.014 billion, 4.2% less than in the first quarter of 2024. The company attributes these declines to currency depreciation in the markets where it operates, with an impact of 4.1 percentage points on revenue and 4.4 points on EBITDA. Discounting this effect, revenue would have increased 1.3% and EBITDA, 0.6%.

As this newspaper reported, the sale of Telefónica's Argentine subsidiary, which closed on February 24, has had a negative impact on the operator's accounts of €1.107 billion. The Spanish multinational agreed to sell its Argentine business for US$1.245 billion (€1.189 billion) to Telecom Argentina, majority-owned by the Clarín group and the Fintech fund.

For its part , the company chaired by Marc Murtra sold Telefónica Perú on April 13 for 3.7 million Peruvian soles (around €900,000) to the Argentine company Integra Tec International, its subsidiary in Peru, after filing for bankruptcy. The transaction includes the assumption of the debt, which at the end of 2024 amounted to €1.24 billion. Telefónica Perú's assets and liabilities have been reclassified as held for sale as of March 31, 2025, following their sale, according to the operator's financial statements.

Telefónica has confirmed a cash dividend of €0.30 per share for 2025, payable in two installments: the first on December 18th (€0.15) and the second in June 2026 (€0.15). The second installment of the 2024 dividend, also €0.15 per share in cash and still pending payment, will be distributed on June 19th.

Regarding its financial targets for the fiscal year, Telefónica anticipates year-over-year organic growth in revenue, EBITDA, and EBITDA. It also targets investments in sales of less than 12.5%, cash generation similar to that of 2024, and a reduction in leverage.

Investment, debt and clients

Investment for the period between January and March stood at €938 million, 2.8% less than in the first quarter of 2024 and 6.7% less than in the same period of the previous year. As a result, the investment-to-income ratio stood at 10.1%. Operating cash flow reached €1,412 million, up 0.6% organically, with a 4.9% decrease due to the currency effect. Free cash flow (FCF) from continuing operations, meanwhile, showed the seasonal behavior typical of the first quarter, with a figure of -€205 million through March.

On the other hand, net financial debt has decreased by €112 million since December and stood at €27.049 billion at the end of the quarter, with a leverage ratio of 2.67 times EBITDA. Financial activity during the quarter, which generated long-term financing worth €6.78 billion, has allowed the company to maintain a liquidity position of over €20.4 billion, coverage of over three years, and an average debt term of 11.5 years.

Telefónica closed the first quarter with a base of 354 million accesses and growth in fiber and mobile contract customers of 9% and 1%, respectively. In operational terms, Telefónica ended March with a total of 80 million fiber real estate units passed (+13%), part of a total of 170.9 million with ultra-broadband networks. The company thus maintains its global leadership in fiber deployment, behind only Chinese operators. In the quarter alone, 1.5 million additional real estate units were deployed, 37% of which were executed through fiber vehicles. Furthermore, average 5G mobile coverage in the main markets stood at 75%, reaching 92% of the population in Spain, 98% in Germany, 62% in Brazil, and 77% in the United Kingdom.