Tonix Pharmaceuticals stock halted ahead of FDA approval news
Investing.com -- Freenet AG (ETR:FNTGn) shares sank more than 14% Thursday after the company reported a near 33% drop in first-quarter profit, driven by higher tax expenses and lower earnings from discontinued operations. The decline came despite growth in revenue and an increase in total subscribers.
Consolidated profit from continuing operations fell to €58.7 million in the quarter ended March 31, down from €87.3 million a year earlier.
Including discontinued operations, total profit dropped to €58.5 million from €66.9 million.
The profit decline followed a sharp swing in tax effects. Freenet reported income tax expenses of €26.8 million, compared with tax income of €6.2 million in the prior-year quarter.
The shift was due to deferred tax expenses of €17.6 million, linked to the utilization of tax loss carryforwards. Last year’s results included a one-off deferred tax gain under new tax legislation.
Revenue rose 1.7% to €604.4 million from €594.5 million. Gross profit increased 2.8% to €236.4 million, and the gross margin edged up to 39.1% from 38.7%.
EBITDA declined slightly to €126.1 million from €127.1 million, with no one-off items reported. Operating profit held steady at €90.7 million, compared with €91.1 million a year ago.
In the Mobile Communications segment, revenue rose 1.3% to €505.1 million, though service revenue dipped 0.4% to €422.9 million.
Postpaid average revenue per user declined to €17.4 from €17.7. Segment EBITDA slipped to €103.4 million from €104.1 million.
The TV and Media segment saw revenue rise 6.7% to €99.7 million, supported by a larger waipu.tv subscriber base.
Segment EBITDA increased to €29.7 million from €27.4 million. freenet TV subscriber losses continued, declining by 4% to 476,500.
Total (EPA:TTEF) subscribers rose to 10.24 million from 10.15 million at the end of 2024. waipu.tv added 59,800 users, while freenet TV lost 19,900.
Postpaid mobile customers increased by 53,400 to 7.65 million. App-based tariffs declined 2.1% to 110,000.
Free cash flow rose 1.7% to €75.8 million, driven by lower capital expenditures. Operating cash flow was stable at €103.3 million. Cash and cash equivalents grew to €254.7 million from €181.6 million at year-end.
Total assets increased to €3.36 billion from €3.34 billion. Equity rose 5.6% to €1.57 billion, lifting the equity ratio to 46.7% from 44.4%.
Net financial liabilities dropped 16.5% to €408.6 million, lowering the leverage ratio to 0.8 times EBITDA from 0.9.
The company maintained its full-year guidance, targeting adjusted EBITDA of €520 million to €540 million and free cash flow of €300 million to €320 million.
Revenue is expected to grow moderately, with stronger performance forecast in the TV and Media segment.
Earnings per share from continuing operations fell to €0.48 from €0.73. Including discontinued operations, total EPS remained unchanged at €0.48. Freenet AG published its quarterly results on May 21.