KPN expects decline in quarterly profit despite growth in customer numbers | Financial

The success in those important KPN markets is mainly due to subscriptions for unlimited data consumption. Customers have become accustomed to video calling and other data consuming activities after lockdowns to prevent infection with the coronavirus. The company is also trying to attract new customers by offering them Formula 1 for free through a deal with streaming service Viaplay. Previously, competition VodafoneZiggo focused heavily on racing enthusiasts by allowing subscribers to watch those races for free through Ziggo.

KPN’s revenue increased 0.3% in the fourth quarter to €1.4 billion. There was 10% less profit on the books than there was a year ago. According to KPN, this is mainly because she had to pay more income taxes. KPN costs have also increased somewhat. The company had to spend more money to acquire and retain customers. Under the line, KPN was left with €157 million.

Higher profits, larger share buybacks

The profit was generally higher than analysts had expected. Tubman Joost Farwerk also talks about a “strong financial position”. According to him, this enables KPN to significantly increase shareholder return, which, among other things, indicates earnings growth. The company also announced that it will buy back 300 million euros of its shares.

KPN is still making less money from roaming in 2021 than it was before the coronavirus pandemic. This is the network usage fee when foreigners use mobile internet in the Netherlands. According to CFO Chris Feige, up to 40% less profits were made from roaming. “It remains to be seen if this will come back soon,” said Figi.

win the book

KPN recorded a turnover of over €4.8 billion for the whole of 2021, 1% lower than the previous year. Profit doubled to €1.3 billion, mainly due to book profits generated by Glaspoort’s partnership with pension company APG.

KPN has recently focused on fiber optics. The company aims to supply about 80% of the Netherlands with optical fibers by 2026. In the last period, 121,000 families were connected. In all of 2021, this included 433,000 homes, over half a million including Glaspoort.

“KPN predicted, cost savings take longer”

Here’s what DFT reporter Wouter van Bergen thinks:

“KPN performed as expected in the last quarter, but appears to be taking a little longer to realize the cost savings that it has included in its strategic plans. In the last quarter of 2021, it installed fiber in 433,000 households, resulting in 42,000 new fiber subscribers. However, in areas where fiber is not yet available, customers are still dropping out at roughly the same numbers, because the total number of KPN broadband customers increased by only 3,000 compared to the previous year.”

Follow Wouter van Bergen on Twitter: Tweet embed