Swiss telecom industry leader hit by the corona pandemic less hard than others.
The largest Swiss telecommunications group, Swisscom, got through the pandemic year 2020 with only mild corona symptoms. Sales fell, but only moderately, while operating profit remained roughly stable. The drop in net profit is attributable to a special effect from the previous year.
Swisscom achieved a total turnover of 11.10 billion francs (around 10.3 billion euros). That is 3.1 percent less than in 2019, as Swisscom announced on Thursday. The operating profit before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose slightly by 0.6 percent to 4.38 billion Swiss francs.
The bottom line is that Swisscom achieved a net profit of CHF 1.53 billion. That is a decrease of 8.4 percent compared to 2019. At that time, however, the corporate tax reform pushed Swisscom's net profit up by almost 10 percent. With the figures, Swisscom has exceeded market expectations.
Roaming suffered from travel restrictions
Even if the corona pandemic hit the industry leader much less hard than other companies, it was still noticeable in the numbers. The high price pressure and the effects of Corona impacted sales in the Swiss core business. In particular, the use of mobile phones abroad (so-called roaming) suffered from travel restrictions due to the pandemic.
Swisscom was able to offset this decline by cutting costs. On the other hand, business in Italy grew.
For the new year 2021, Swisscom expects sales of around CHF 11.1 billion. The industry leader wants to achieve around 4.3 billion in EBITDA. 2.3 billion francs are planned as investments. In addition, an unchanged dividend of CHF 22 is promised again if the targets are achieved.
