|
Iliad, whose cut-price phone deals shook up France's mobile
market, was beaten at its own game in recent quarters as a price
war dented its market share, undermined its profitability and
more than halved the value of shares in the past two years.
Niel, who owns a little more than 52% of Iliad, said in a call
with analysts that he heard the frustration of some of the
group's shareholders but that he still believed in its strategy.
He said he would fully underwrite a 1.4 billion euro capital
increase to finance a share buyback equivalent to nearly 20% of
shares, offering disgruntled shareholders a way out.
"I have been disappointed as the first shareholder of the group
by the stock price performance over the last few months," Niel
said.
"But I believe in the group, its management, its prospects in
France and of course in Italy. I'm keen to increase my exposure
in the group," he said.
The share buyback program will be carried out at the price of
120 euros per share, a premium of 38% on the basis of the
volume-weighted average price over the last three months. The
stock closed at 95.06 euros on Monday and rose 17% on Tuesday.
The offer will concern about 11.7 million shares, or 19.7% of
the group's capital, which Chief Executive Thomas Reynaud said
could mean Niel's stake would rise to 72%, in the absence of any
offer from new shareholders.
The group, which competes against Orange <ORAN.PA>, Altice
Europe's SFR <ATCA.AS> and Bouygues Telecom <BOUY.PA> in France,
said in a separate statement that third-quarter revenue rose 8%
to 1.34 billion euros.
The growth stemmed from the addition of 32,000 new customers who
subscribed to its high-speed broadband offers and 150,000 new
mobile customers for its 4G mobile offers.
Iliad also indicated it would pay 2.6 euros per share in
dividend. It confirmed its full-year targets, including a return
to revenue growth in France and an acceleration of its core
operating profit growth in the second-half of the year.
(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain, Editing by Dominique Vidalon and
Edmund Blair)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
