- Revenue increase
- EBITDA increase to 52.4% of revenues
- Ongoing investment strategy focusing on telecoms and fiber in 2018
Revenue growth returns
The key feature of 2017 was that Group revenues have turned the corner and posted +0.4% growth to €676.8 million:
- Telecoms revenues in mobile operator site (masts and rooftops) hosting surged 7.4%. This confirms the telecoms market is in great shape, buoyed by government policy to enhance mobile coverage, roll out 4G, step up network densification etc. For TDF, this meant that the number of its points of presence increased by 15.2%.Further, the Company has won a big 25-year contract with French state-owned railway firm SNCF to operate new indoor and outdoor mast sites located in some 3,000 French train stations.
- TV/radio broadcasting services revenues came in down as expected, largely due to the April 2016 switch off of two DTT multiplexes.
Bolstered optical fiber credibility
In 2017, the Company pursued its goal to expand its infrastructure operations to optical fiber networks. Backed by expertise, TDF is now a credible and acknowledged optical fiber operator.
The Company won three tenders in 2017, namely for French counties Val d’Oise, Yvelines and Val de Loire. Early 2018 TDF came away with an additional contract for French county Anjou. These contracts involve roll-out of over 700,000 plugs.
Ongoing commitment for a major investment policy
Backed by a strong balance sheet and robust, profitable longstanding businesses, the Company invested 32% of revenues principally in mobile networks and digital infrastructure under an ambitious strategy.
Revenue growth was accompanied by enhanced earnings: existing businesses’ adjusted EBITDA excluding optical fiber development costs came in up 2.1%.
The Company’s sales efforts were once again rewarded in 2017: year-end order backlog edged up 2.9% to reach a record high of €2,733 million representing four years of revenues.
2018 ambitious investment strategy
2017 saw TDF consolidating its market positioning as a key infrastructure operator developing media and telecoms, mobile and landline, ultra high-speed broadband.
- Hundreds of masts to be built
In 2018, TDF will accelerate its mast construction program reflecting government policy, in particular along highways and railway lines and in sparsely populated areas. In order to step up mobile broadband regional coverage, the Company will strive to provide mobile operator customers with hundreds of masts by the year-end.Over the last two years, the number of the Company’s sites has soared as follows: up 17% in 2016 and up 17% in 2017. TDF now operates 13,900 sites, up from 11,850 as of December 31, 2016.
- Optical fiber roll-out priority
In 2018, the key priority will be rolling out optical fiber networks. This means installing tens of thousands of plugs in 2018 out of the 700,000 plugs awarded by French counties to the Company. - TV/radio: modernizing the DTT platform
Digital terrestrial television (DTT) is still the most popular TV format in France used by 52% of the population. In 2018, TDF will follow the DTT future policies laid down by the CSA and will continue to support big DTT channel customers, while constantly striving to enhance service quality. TDF will break new ground to meet future challenges (including the 2024 Paris Olympics), which will require to modernize the DTT platform boosted by Ultra High Definition and services demanded by TV viewers and channels.
Olivier Huart, TDF Group CEO, said: “The Company’s profound transformation that we have undertaken with all our people since 2011 is beginning to pay off. Revenues are up, we are once again posting profits and our order backlog is up 2.9%. 2017 bears out that the goals we set were on the right track. In 2018, we will continue on the same path based on a targeted and selective investment strategy, especially in telecoms and fiber”.