Millicom International Q3 EBITDA Rise, Revenue Down; Backs Outlook

(RTTNews) - Swedish telecom and media company Millicom International Cellular S.A. (MICC, MIICF) reported Thursday that its third-quarter adjusted earnings per share were $0.17, compared to $0.79 last year.

EBITDA, a key earnings metric, grew 2.1 percent in US dollars and 7.9 percent on an organic basis to $560 million. EBITDA margin improved 1.3 percentage points to 34.1 percent.

Revenue declined 2 percent to $1.64 billion from $1.68 billion last year, reflecting impact from Colombia FX. Organic revenue growth was 7.2 percent.

The company said the third quarter saw increased currency volatility across many emerging markets.

Looking ahead, the company continues to expect revenue between $6.8 billion and $7.2 billion, and EBITDA between $2.12 billion and $2.26 billion for fiscal 2015.

CEO Mauricio Ramos said, "Looking towards the end of the year, we expect external market conditions to become more challenging. Whilst we have not seen any significant slowdown in the demand for our products and services as a result of currency volatility we saw over the summer, GDP growth forecasts were dampened across many of the countries we operate in. We therefore remain focussed on protecting margins and improving cashflow generation."