Cellnex Telecom SA, Europe’s largest mobile tower operator, will set up a plan to return cash to its shareholders next year as part of new Chief Executive Officer Marco Patuano’s efforts to restructure the company.
A dividend policy “is important to every tower company, and we cannot be different to the rest of the sector,” Patuano said in a call with analysts about the Spanish company’s third-quarter financial results on Friday. Cellnex will present the plan at its capital markets day next year.
Cellnex is selling off assets to pare debt after spending the last few years buying up wireless infrastructure. Patuano said he wants to reduce the company’s leverage enough to earn an investment-grade rating from S&P by the end of 2024, reiterating his plan to sell “sub-scaled” assets to do it.
Read More: Cellnex Fluctuates After Mixed Sales, Cash Outlook: Street Wrap
The company agreed to sell a 49% stake in its business in Denmark and Sweden for about €730 million ($779 million) in September. The CEO on Friday said he’d also look at full disposals of units. Cellnex also said Friday it’s agreed to divest its private networks unit for an undisclosed amount.
“I can’t tell you if it’s going to be 3 months, 6 months, or 9 months, but the process of making it happen has already started in our house,” he said on the call. Patuano also said he’d consider a share buyback once the company has finished cutting debt and achieved an investment-grade rating.
Cellnex shares fell 0.8% to €30.43 on Friday. The stock has declined 1.6% this year.
What Bloomberg Intelligence Says:
Cellnex looks set to continue its message that a push to investment grade is firmly on track, following 2022’s strategic U-turn from expansionary M&A. A rating change could come in 2024 when leverage might fall below 7x net debt-to-Ebitda, driven by organic cash flow and integration efforts. Further disposals could follow the sale of a 49% stake in its Nordics operation to private equity.
—John Davies, BI senior industry analyst
