Millicom International Cellular (MIC), which offers mobile and cable broadband services in Latin America via the Tigo brand, has reported quarterly revenue of USD1.4 billion for the three months ended 31 March 2022, up 40.9% year-on-year. The group credits the improved top-line to its November 2021 deal to acquire the 45% stake it did not own in Tigo Guatemala. Operating profit, meanwhile, jumped 126.3% from USD103 million in Q1 2021 to USD234 million in the period under review, while EBITDA climbed 55.8% from USD362 million to USD564 million. Finally, Millicom recorded a net profit of USD23 million for first quarter, down 45.8% from USD42 million in the year-ago period.
In operational terms, Millicom reported that its Latin American mobile subscription base climbed 5.4% on an annualised basis, to reach 39.956 million at 31 March 2022. 4G customers surged 16.2%, to 19.282 million by end-March, while the number of HFC/FTTH revenue generating units (RGUs) jumped 11.0% to 8.524 million.
Millicom CEO Mauricio Ramos commented: ‘We are off to a strong start in 2022, with operating and financial results ahead of our plans. Our Mobile business performed particularly well, especially in Colombia, where we have added one million post-paid subscribers over the past twelve months, implying growth of more than 50% in the country, and puts us well on track toward achieving the scale we need to sustain higher levels of profitability in that market over the long term … Meanwhile, Home continued to perform strongly, with solid net adds and service revenue growth of just over 5% as compared to a very strong Q1 in 2021. We anticipate faster growth in H2 2022, as we ramp up our planned network expansion toward our goal of adding approximately one million new homes passed in 2022.’