Helios Towers Q1 revenue and EBITDA grow year-on-year

Telecommunications infrastructure firm Helios Towers said on Thursday that both revenues and underlying earnings had ticked up in the first quarter of 2021 on a year-on-year basis.

Helios said revenues had increased 2% year-on-year to $103.6m, driven by tenancy growth across the group.

However, reported revenue fell 2% quarter-on-quarter as a result of a $3.0m decrease in revenue in the Democratic Republic of Congo following a catch-up payment for amendment revenue in the fourth quarter.

Adjusted underlying earnings for the three months ended 31 March increased 3% year-on-year to $55.8m but was again lower quarter-on-quarter, this time down 7% as a result of both the DRC revenue dip and higher costs in the country following an increase in local licence fees to 3%.

Helios said its net leverage of 3.0x remained flat year-on-year and increased by 0.1x quarter-on-quarter but was still below the group's target range of 3.5x-4.5x.

The FTSE 250-listed firm also stated its operations remained underpinned by long-term contracted revenues of $2.8bn, of which 99% was from large multinational customers, with an average remaining life of seven years.

Looking forward, Helios kept guidance for its existing five markets remains unchanged, targeting 1,000-1,500 organic tenancies per annum in the medium term and $110.0m-140.0m of capex in 2021.

As of 0905 BST, Helios shares were down 0.94% at 167.80p.