United Internet with successful first nine months of 2021
- Customer contracts: + 760,000 to 26.41 million contracts
- Sales: + 4.6% yoy to EUR 4.168 billion
- Operating EBITDA: + 4.3% to EUR 955.1 million – despite higher investments in future topics by 1&1 and IONOS
- Operating EBIT: + 7.8% to EUR 604.5 million
- Operating EPS: + 22.5% to EUR 1.69
- Full-year 2021 guidance confirmed
Montabaur, November 9, 2021. United Internet AG can look back on a successful first nine months of 2021. The company made further investments in new customer contracts and the expansion of its existing customer relationships, and thus in sustainable growth. All in all, the number of fee-based customer contracts was raised by a further 760,000 to a current 26.41 million contracts. Of this total, 440,000 contracts were added in the Consumer Access segment and 240,000 contracts in the Business Applications segment. A further 80,000 contracts were added in the Consumer Applications segment.
Consolidated sales grew by 4.6% in the first nine months of 2021, from EUR 3,984.7 million to EUR 4,167.9 million.
EBITDA improved strongly from EUR 896.4 million to EUR 994.5 million and EBIT from EUR 541.6 million to EUR 643.9 million. These key earnings figures include an (out-of-period) positive effect on earnings totaling EUR 39.4 million from the fiscal year 2020, of which excessive MBA MVNO billing in the third quarter of 2020 accounted for EUR 19.2 million. On February 15, 2021, 1&1 accepted Telefónica Germany’s improved offer – following review by the EU Commission – for national roaming and thus also retroactively as of July 1, 2020 for the related MBA MVNO advance services. The new offer includes annually decreasing data prices again, similar to the pricing mechanisms in the first five years of the MBA MVNO agreement.
After correctly allocating the above mentioned effects to their respective periods, earnings developed as follows: operating EBITDA rose by 4.3% in the first nine months of 2021 from EUR 915.6 million in the previous year to EUR 955.1 million, and operating EBIT by 7.8% from EUR 560.8 million to EUR 604.5 million.
The key earnings figures include initial costs for the construction of 1&1’s 5G mobile communications network of EUR -24.5 million (prior year: EUR -8.4 million), as well as the announced investments of IONOS amounting to EUR -24.8 million for a product and sales drive focusing on its cloud business and further international expansion.
Earnings per share (EPS) increased from EUR 1.33 in the previous year to EUR 1.80. EPS also includes the (out-of-period) positive effect on earnings (EPS effect: EUR +0.11) and in the previous year the excessive MBA MVNO billing (EPS effect: EUR -0.05). After correctly allocating these effects to their respective periods, operating EPS rose by 22.5% from EUR 1.38 to EUR 1.69, and operating EPS before PPA by 14.5% from EUR 1.73 to EUR 1.98.
Outlook 2021
Following the successful first nine months of 2021, United Internet AG can confirm its full-year guidance for 2021 last upgraded in August 2021 and continues to anticipate sales growth to approx. EUR 5.6 billion and an increase in operating EBITDA to approx. EUR 1.25 billion (without consideration of the out-of-period income of EUR 39.4 million in connection with the signing of the national roaming agreement). Expected EBITDA continues to include initial costs of approx. EUR 30 million for the construction of 1&1’s 5G network and approx. EUR 40 million for the IONOS product and sales drive.