Telesp unveils USD1.88bn investment for 2010

Brazilian telecoms operator Telecomunicacoes de Sao Paulo (Telesp), backed by Telefonica of Spain, has revealed it is investing BRL3.50 billion (USD1.88 billion) this year, of which BRL2.3 billion will be targeted at developing its fixed telephony, broadband expansion project and pay-TV services, local press report its president Antonio Valente as saying. The telco’s FY2009 CAPEX totalled BRL2.22 billion down 5.2% compared to 2008. The operator’s announcement follows its recent publication of financial tesults for the fourth quarter of 2009. As reported by CommsUpdate last month, Telesp’s net profits in 4Q09 totalled BRL544.8 million (USD294 million), down 24.7% from the same period of 2008. The operator said the dip was largely the result of a fall in local service revenues. Fourth quarter losses attributable to its financial operations reached BRL51.2 million, compared with a loss of BRL43.5 million in the year-ago period. Net revenues were BRL3.9 billion in 4Q09, down from BRL4.1 billion in 4Q08, and EBITDA dipped 6.4% year-on-year to BRL1.39 billion. The EBITDA margin was 35%, down from 41% in the fourth quarter of 2008. Telesp added that full-year net profits stood at BRL2.17 billion last year, down 10.2% y-o-y and EBITDA reached BRL5.87 billion (down 10.4%). Telesp ended 2009 with 11.3 million fixed lines in service, a decline of 3.5% compared to end-2008. Meanwhile, the company reached 2.64 million broadband subscribers, a 3.2% increase versus the previous year.