VIENNA: Telekom Austria expects revenue and underlying profit to grow in 2015 and intends to keep its dividend steady at 5 cents per share, the America Movil unit said on Tuesday.
"Challenges such as macroeconomic headwind, regulatory intervention and severe price pressure are expected to remain in place for the time being," it said, but added it was seeing positive impact from steps launched to shore up the business.
"A range of measures relating to market activities, costs and technology is intended to generate growth in revenues as well as in EBITDA comparable.
This will be accompanied by an increase in free cash flow," it said it its 2015 outlook.
Fourth-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) slipped 3.9 percent to 252.1 million euros ($285 million), in line with the 255 million average in a Reuters poll.
Revenue eased 2.4 percent to 1.03 billion euros versus the poll average of 1.047 billion euros. Restructuring charges helped push it to a quarterly loss of 48.9 million euros, bringing its annual loss to 185 million euros.
It said it expected 2015 revenue to grow around 2 percent after a 4 percent drop in 2014. It earmarked capital spending of 700-750 million euros in 2015, down from 757 million in 2014.
Price increases in its home market and cost-cutting had helped boost third-quarter underlying operating profit nearly 16 percent on slightly higher sales.
It was the first rise in adjusted operating profit since America Movil's Carlos Slim in 2012 began building a stake in the former state monopoly that he wants to use as a platform for expansion in central and eastern Europe. Slim now has nearly 60 percent.
America Movil is due to report results later on Tuesday.
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