(Alliance News) - Zegona Communications PLC on Thursday reported a sharp increase in its earnings for 2019.
Shares in the telecommunications-focused investment firm closed flat on Thursday in London at 89.00 pence each.
For 2019, Zegona posted pretax profit of EUR42.1 million from EUR9.9 million. It added that the value of its main assets per share rose 0.7% to GBP1.37 from GBP1.36.
Euskaltel SA - in which Zegona has a 21% stake - reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization growth of 2.4% to EUR344 million and post-tax profit of EUR62 million. As at the end of December, the fair value of Zegona's investment in Euskaltel was EUR341.6 million, rising from EUR187.3 million the year prior, with the increase attributed to an increase in investment from 15% during the year and a 28% increase in Euskaltel's share price.
Zegona said it will pay an interim dividend of 2.6p per share.
Looking ahead, Zegona said it expects Euskaltel to prove resilient amid the Covid-19 pandemic, noting Euskaltel's statement that it still intends to pay a EUR0.17 dividend and has not seen "significant impact" to its business in the first quarter of 2020. Zegona also highlighted Euskaltel's plan to double the size of its customer base and grow revenues to over EUR1.2 billion and Ebitda to over EUR470 million by 2025.
"We continue to see a very healthy environment for investments across the broader European TMT landscape. There was an increase in deal activity in 2019 and we have also seen growth in the availability of assets. We continue to evaluate new acquisition opportunities and actively pursue those which meet our rigorous financial and strategic criteria," said Chief Executive & Chair Eamonn O'Hare.
By Ife Taiwo; ifetaiwo@alliancenews.com
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Zegona Com (ZEG)