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Introduction & Market Context
America Movil (NYSE:AMX) (BMV:AMXL) presented its fourth quarter 2024 results on February 12, 2025, revealing a complex financial picture characterized by robust revenue growth alongside a significant decline in net income. The Mexican telecommunications giant, which operates across Latin America and parts of Europe, demonstrated strong operational performance in most segments while facing headwinds from increased financing costs.
The company’s presentation comes amid challenging economic conditions in Latin America, with currency fluctuations and varying growth rates across its key markets impacting overall performance. Despite these challenges, America Movil maintained its position as a leading telecommunications provider in the region.
Quarterly Performance Highlights
America Movil reported impressive top-line growth, with total revenue increasing by 18.0% year-over-year. Service revenue, a key metric for telecommunications companies, grew even faster at 19.1%. EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) rose by 16.4% to 91 billion Mexican pesos.
As shown in the following chart of revenue and EBITDA growth:
However, this strong operational performance was offset by higher comprehensive financing costs, which contributed to a 47.5% decline in net income to 9 billion Mexican pesos. The company’s net income breakdown reveals the significant impact of these financing costs:
The company’s leverage ratio stood at 1.44 times LTM EBITDAaL (EBITDA after Leases), indicating a relatively stable financial position despite the increased financing costs.
Subscriber Growth Analysis
America Movil added 2.1 million postpaid subscribers in Q4 2024, down from 2.7 million in the same period of 2023. Brazil led with 655,000 new postpaid subscribers, followed by Colombia (178,000) and Mexico (141,000).
The following chart details postpaid subscriber additions by region:
In contrast, the prepaid segment faced significant challenges, with a net loss of 1.26 million subscribers, compared to a gain of 927,000 in Q4 2023. This decline was primarily driven by Brazil, which lost 1.79 million prepaid subscribers. Mexico and Colombia showed more resilience with gains of 302,000 and 178,000 prepaid subscribers, respectively.
The prepaid subscriber trends by region are illustrated here:
The broadband segment continued to show healthy growth, with 320,000 net additions in Q4 2024, though this was lower than the 393,000 added in Q4 2023. Mexico led with 132,000 new broadband subscribers, followed by Brazil with 75,000.
The broadband subscriber additions by region are shown below:
Overall access growth rates varied by segment, with mobile postpaid showing the strongest performance at 5.3% year-over-year growth, followed by fixed-broadband at 4.7%. Mobile prepaid grew marginally at 0.4%, while Pay TV and Fixed-Voice declined by 1.7% and 0.9%, respectively.
Detailed Financial Analysis
America Movil’s financial performance showed strong operational cash flow of 190 billion Mexican pesos for the January-December 2024 period. The company allocated 131 billion pesos to capital expenditures and distributed 51 billion pesos to shareholders.
The sources and uses of funds are detailed in the following chart:
Mobile service revenue grew by 6.2% on a consolidated basis, with Brazil leading at 10.1% growth, followed by Ecuador (6.6%), Peru (5.1%), and Colombia (3.0%). This regional variation highlights the differing market conditions across America Movil’s footprint.
Fixed-line service revenue increased by 7.4%, with particularly strong performance in Austria, Eastern Europe, and Central America. Within the fixed-line segment, Corporate Networks led with 12.3% growth, followed by Broadband at 9.8% and PayTV at 5.2%.
Regional Performance
Brazil emerged as a market of contrasts for America Movil, showing strong mobile service revenue growth of 10.1% and adding 655,000 postpaid subscribers, while simultaneously losing 1.79 million prepaid subscribers. This shift reflects the ongoing transition from prepaid to postpaid services in the Brazilian market.
Mexico, America Movil’s home market, demonstrated steady performance with 141,000 postpaid and 302,000 prepaid subscriber additions, along with 132,000 new broadband customers. This balanced growth across segments underscores the company’s strong position in the Mexican telecommunications market.
Colombia showed resilience with 178,000 additions in both postpaid and prepaid segments, indicating a stable market position despite economic challenges in the region.
Forward-Looking Statements
While the presentation did not include explicit forward guidance, America Movil’s investment in network infrastructure, particularly in 5G technology, suggests a continued focus on high-value services and segments. The company’s strong cash flow generation, despite higher financing costs, provides flexibility for future investments and shareholder returns.
The company’s balanced approach to capital allocation, with significant investments in infrastructure alongside substantial shareholder distributions, indicates confidence in its long-term strategy despite short-term challenges in net income.
America Movil’s continued subscriber growth in postpaid and broadband segments, combined with strong service revenue growth, positions the company well for future performance, though managing financing costs will be crucial to improving bottom-line results in coming quarters.
Full presentation:
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