America Movil (NYSE: AMX)’s tower spin-off Telesites should occur in the third quarter of the year, its CFO Carlos Garcia Moreno said during an earnings call on Friday.
He pointed out that the company was still waiting for some regulatory approvals,…
America Movil (NYSE: AMX)’s tower spin-off Telesites should occur in the third quarter of the year, its CFO Carlos Garcia Moreno said during an earnings call on Friday.
He pointed out that the company was still waiting for some regulatory approvals, and that “everything is ready to go”.
Last week, an AMX spokesperson told TelecomFinance that the spin-off is subject to certain conditions, including the review by regulator the IFT. However, the process was “going as expected.”
The company said that Telesites has been operating as a separate entity since January.
The towerco, which consists of 10,800 masts, was initially expected to list its shares on the Mexican Bourse in early June.
However, last month the company told New Street Research analyst Soomit Datta the IPO would be delayed until late summer.
America Movil shareholders will receive one Telesites share for each of their existing shares.
AMX will shift Ps20.6bn (US$1.3bn) of debt into Telesites, initially in the form of a loan from AMX. It will also move Ps2bn (US$130m) of cash into the tower company.
New tenants will be offered the same rental price as AMX’s wireless unit Telcel.
US$6bn network investments
The company, which is currently facing strong competition from new entrant AT&T, has also announced that it will invest US$6bn in network upgrades over the next three years.
Furthermore, it will scrap roaming charges in the US for all postpaid customers at a monthly fee of Ps50, and is considering extending the plan to Canada.
No Telekom Austria capital hike
Moreno also denied recent media reports that AMX Austrian unit, Telekom Austria, is seeking a capital increase. “This company has sufficient equity today, I think, to manage its day-to-day operations adequately,” he said.
Last month, commenting on Eastern Europe’s fixed infrastructure prospects, the CFO said: “We will have to make significant investments [in this segment]. There will be a lot of organic growth, there might be some company which we could acquire, but overall we cannot grow only by acquiring companies….there isn’t much we could buy”.
The company posted Ps220bn in Q2 15 revenues, while EBITDA stood at Ps68bn, down 3.1%. EBITDA margin declined from 32.6% to 31.1%, while service revenues decreased -0.5%.