Swisscom: results in line with expectations

Last week Swisscom announced its full results for the first quarter of 2023. Overall, the company’s results were in line with analysts’ expectations. Revenues decreased slightly (-0.3% compared to the same quarter last year). This slight decrease is attributable to the B2B segment, i.e. the enterprise division, where competition between operators remains fierce. On the other hand, the Fastweb division (Internet and mobile access in Italy) continued to grow (+4.7%), but the fall of the Euro almost cancels out this increase when converted into Swiss francs.

EBITDA increased by 2.4%, mainly due to a lower accounting cost in the pension fund expenses. The latter is lower due to higher interest rates. The impact of CHF 24 million is in line with the forecast of a positive impact of CHF 90 million for the full year. It can be said that this impact is not related to operations, and the EBITDA growth is not of high quality.

Swisscom said that they were impacted by cost increases related to energy and wages, and that they did not rule out a rate increase for customers. Swisscom has also changed its general terms and conditions of sale, with the possibility of increasing their tariffs once a year, in line with inflation, without customers having the right to terminate their contract early. This questionable decision has been heavily criticized by consumer protection associations.