Nos profits rise 57% to €144M

The Portuguese telecommunications company Nos has posted a profit of €144 million for 2021 which was an increase of 57% on 2020.

This allowed the company to recover to a level of results that it had enjoyed before the pandemic. Nos will pay out a dividend of 27.8 cents per share, in line with recent years.
The company led by Miguel Almeida said that revenues had grown 4.6% to €1.45Bn mostly driven by an increase in telecommunications revenues which rose 4.1% to €1.4Bn according to a communiqué sent to the market on Thursday.
In the area of Cinemas and Audiovisual which has been “particularly impacted since the end of the pandemic” Nos recorded very positive results with revenues climbing by 24.6% to €67 million.
The EBITDA stood at €619 million, climbing 2.5% compared to 2020. Nos highlights the “good performance of telecommunications” and the “return of cinema films activity” which enjoyed growth of 6.3% in the last quarter of the year.
The operator also informed that it strengthened its investments, particularly in the communications area. The group’s total CAPEX, excluding leasing contracts, increased 49% to €574 million.
The company’s net financial debt stood at €1Bn, around twice the EBITDA after leasings; “a conservative ratio compared to its competitors in the sector”.
Nos will pay out a dividend of 27.8 cents per share, the equivalent of €143 million, on almost all of the profit that it got last year. The dividend represents a yield of 8.1%.
Zopt, a vehicle owned in equal parts by Isabel dos Santos (via Kento Holding – 17.35% of Zopt and Unitel (32.65% of Zopt) and Sonae (33.4% of Zopt) holds 52.15% of Nos. Zopt will retain €74.7 million.
The dividends that Nos will distribute to the companies owned by Isabel dos Santos via Zopt will be held by State bank Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) according to the Public Ministry.