Digitalisation is progressing rapidly in almost all areas of business
and life. The A1 Telekom Austria Group sees itself as a pioneer andcompanion on this journey. In the year under review, it thereforecontinued its transformation into a preferred digitalisation partner.Providing connectivity and bandwidth at the highest level forms asound basis for this. For this reason, further investments in the rolloutof fixed-line and mobile broadband infrastructure and in state-of-
the-art data centres were made in 2017.
Thanks to the quality of its infrastructure, the A1 Telekom AustriaGroup also paved the way for excelling in its core business and ex-panding its product portfolio. An outstanding customer experience
is the focus of these core aspects of the strategic orientation (see‘Vision and Strategy’). Attractive offers in the areas of ICT, cloud andIoT (‘Internet of Things’) solutions and innovative content offers play
an increasingly important role in this context. Moreover, with theestablishment of A1 Digital as an international subsidiary, the Group
is gaining ground beyond its traditional geographical footprint.
The consistent execution of the Group’s strategy allowed the A1Telekom Austria Group to improve its operational business even in theface of tough competition and regulatory frameworks. As a result, theA1 Telekom Austria Group recorded revenue growth of 4.1 % and EBIT-DA growth of 3.2 % in the year under review despite substantial lossesdue to roaming regulation. The Group managed to increase free cashflow by 65.8 % to EUR 384.7 mn. The number of mobile customersamounted to 20.7 million and the Group posted a growth of 3.6 % inits contract base, while fixed-line revenue-generating units (RGUs)increased by 2.3 %. The Telekom Austria share price closed at EUR7.72 on 31 December 2017, up 37.8 % in a year-on-year comparisonand clearly outperforming the sector (Stoxx Telecom: –3.6 %). For theyear 2018, the management is expecting modest growth in revenuesand CAPEX of about EUR 750 mn.
In pursuing its corporate strategy, the A1 Telekom Austria Group com-mits itself to the targets of the triple bottom line of sustainable develop-ment (‘People, Planet, Profit’). The company is also expressly committedto the UN Global Compact and makes contributions to the SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDG) of the United Nations. All this is intended to
secure business activity in the long run. Beyond that, the Group’s man-agement actively assumes societal and environmental responsibility.This integrated viewpoint has also led to the first-time publication of acombined annual and sustainability report for the year under review.
An example of optimising core business, but also of utilising synergyeffects and best possible group-wide leverage of existing assets (‘Oneto all’), is the gradual roll-out of the A1 brand across all of the Group’soperations, which was resolved in 2017. In the course of consequentlypursuing this one-brand strategy, the Group rebranded its internationalcorporate brand into A1 Telekom Austria Group. Thus, the Group contin-ues to use the strong brand identity of A1 to promote its public percep-tion as a powerful international company (‘One company’).
As with any venture into any new territory, enthusiasm for discoveries,development paths and future prospects leads the way when it comesto digitalisation. The A1 Telekom Austria Group will therefore staycurious and continue to think and act innovatively (see ‘Start-upInitiatives’) as it moves on to the next stages of its digital journey. ▬
Alejandro Plater, CEO & COO, Siegfried Mayrhofer, CFO