Earnings call transcript: Polsat Plus Group Q4 2024 shows steady growth

Investing.com

Published Apr 10, 2025 11:57AM ET

Earnings call transcript: Polsat Plus Group Q4 2024 shows steady growth

Polsat Plus Group reported a solid financial performance for the full year 2024, with revenue reaching 14.3 billion PLN, marking a 4.7% increase year-over-year. The adjusted EBITDA also saw a significant rise of 9.6% to 3.3 billion PLN. The company's stock currently trades at $11.72, with InvestingPro analysis indicating the stock is slightly undervalued based on its Fair Value model. The company maintains a FAIR Financial Health Score of 2.29, suggesting stable operational performance despite market challenges. The company's strategic focus on expanding its 5G network and green energy initiatives were highlights of the earnings call.

Key Takeaways

  • Revenue grew by 4.7% YoY to 14.3 billion PLN.
  • Adjusted EBITDA increased by 9.6% to 3.3 billion PLN.
  • 5G network now covers 70% of Poland's population.
  • Expansion into green hydrogen production and sales.
  • Stock price saw a minor decline of 0.17%.

Company Performance

Polsat Plus Group demonstrated robust performance in 2024, with revenue and adjusted EBITDA both showing healthy increases. The company benefited from its strategic investments in telecommunications infrastructure and renewable energy. The multiplay customer base expanded by 2.4%, and the company achieved a decrease in churn rate to 7%, indicating strong customer retention.

Financial Highlights

  • Revenue: 14.3 billion PLN (+4.7% YoY)
  • Adjusted EBITDA: 3.3 billion PLN (+9.6% YoY)
  • Net Profit: 800 million PLN
  • Free Cash Flow: 1.3 billion PLN
  • Net Debt to EBITDA: 3.59
  • Weighted Average Cost of Interest: 8.3%

Outlook & Guidance

Looking forward, Polsat Plus Group aims to continue its multiplay strategy and expand its 5G network. The company is also focused on completing the Jejuvaux Wind Farm and increasing its green energy production, targeting 1.7 TWh by 2026. The company projects a green energy EBITDA of 500 million PLN by 2026, signaling a strong commitment to sustainable energy solutions.

Executive Commentary

Katarzyna Ostabtaman, CFO, emphasized the transition from investment to monetization in the energy segment, stating, "We are approaching the end of investments in the development of the energy segment and moving to the monetization phase." CEO Mirosław Bostrok highlighted the company's strategic focus, saying, "Our operations are based on three key business pillars."

Risks and Challenges

  • High net debt to EBITDA ratio may limit financial flexibility.
  • Weighted average cost of interest at 8.3% could impact profitability.
  • Potential challenges in maintaining growth in the media segment.
  • Macroeconomic pressures could affect consumer spending and demand.
  • Regulatory changes in telecommunications and energy sectors.
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Q&A

During the Q&A session, analysts inquired about the remaining expenditures for the Drejevo Wind Farm, which are expected mainly in February. Additionally, there was confirmation that no significant future media segment write-offs are anticipated, and there are no current plans to refinance existing debt.

Full transcript - Cyfrowy Polsat SA (CPS) Q4 2024:

Conference Moderator: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It is my pleasure to welcome you to the earnings call of Polsad Plus Group for the fourth quarter of twenty twenty four and the full year 2024. Could I please have the next slide? Today, the results will be presented to you by the CEO of Tifferov Polsat, mister Miroswaav Bostrok, vice president responsible for strategy, mister and the CFO and management board member responsible for ESG, miss Katarzyna Ostabtaman. As we proceed with the presentation, please post any questions you may have in the q and a panel.

Please remember to include your name and institution with your questions as we do not accept anonymous questions. This will help us address your queries more effectively and ensure a smooth q and a session. Thank you very much, and I pass the floor over to mister Bostock.

Mirosław Bostrok, CEO, Polsat Plus Group: Good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to welcome you to Pulse Atlas Group's results conference for the February and the entire year 02/2024. Today's presentation will follow the standard plan. First, I will present the most important events that took place in the past year. Then Maciek will discuss the operational results of all our business segments, and Kasia will present the group's financial results.

We will conclude the presentation with a brief summary of 02/2024 and cover our goals for 02/2025 followed by a q and a session. Next slide, please. The year 02/2024 was a very good year for Postal Plus Group. I'm very pleased with the operational results achieved in all our business segments. Combined with cost discipline, they translated it to strong financial results.

Let's move on to the next slide. Let's start with the telecommunications segment. We consistently implement our long term multiplay strategy focusing on building customer value and loyalty. As a result, in 02/2024, the average revenue per b two c contract customer increased by 4.8% to 76.1 PLN and for b to b customer by 3.4% to over 1,500 PLN. I'm very pleased with the falling churn rate, which was only 7% in 02/2024.

In this segment, we continuously expand and improve our f plus five g network. It now covers 26,000,000 people. That's 70% of Poland's population. As you may remember, we decided to base our five g network on the unique 2.6 gigahertz TDD frequency back in 02/2020. And in 02/2024, we renewed this reservation for another fifteen years.

Additionally, at the beginning of 02/2024, we obtained the reservation in the 3.6 gigahertz band. And just two weeks ago, the seven hundred megahertz auction was concluded, in which we acquired one block for 363,000,000 PLN. This way, we have secured frequency resources that we will use in the coming years to further develop our five g network to provide our customers with the best quality of services. We are also consistently increasing the coverage of our fixed Internet access service. Today, we cover almost 11,000,000 households using both our our own network and wholesale access.

Next slide, please. Moving on to the media segment. I am pleased to inform you that our TV channels achieved very good viewership results, capturing a 22% market share. I want to also like to highlight the success of our portal Interior PL, which in 02/2024 became the leader among Internet publishers in Poland. We have also strengthened it our offering in the key sports segments by securing exclusive rights to broadcast several prestigious events.

This include, among others, the Formula one Grand Prix, the UEFA Europe League, the UEFA Conference League, the German Bundesliga, and the Front League One. We are also very pleased with the return of the men's and women's national handball to Polsat. These sport rights will contribute to the attractiveness of our sport offering in the coming years. Next slide, please. In the green energy segment, we are constantly implementing the strategy February and building our third business pillar.

In 02/2024, we launched two more winds farm in Chukhov and Cherub. As a result, our installed wind power capacity increased to 150 megawatts. At the same time, we are dynamically building our largest wind farm in Jejuvu with a capacity of 139 megawatts where 32 on some turbines are already standing. In the green hydrogen area, I'm very pleased to inform you that we have completed our green hydrogen value chain by launching green hydrogen production at our electrolyzer in Konin. Hydrogen is produced by a 2.5 megawatts pen electrolyzer with a capacity of up to 1,000 kilograms of hydrogen per day.

Additionally, we have put into operation more hydrogen refueling station. Today, there are already six public NESO station in Warsaw, Rebnik, Dansk, Cradena, Lublin, and Roswell. We also won tenders for the delivery of five fifty five hydrogen powered buses to various cities in Poland. Next slide, please. We ended 02/2024 with very good financial result.

Kasia will, of course, present the details, but I would like to highlight the strong growth we recorded in 02/2024. The group's revenues were 4.7% higher year on year, implemented to 14,300,000,000.0 PLN. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 9.6% to 3,300,000,000.0 PLN. I would also like to underline the defective cash flow management within our wide portfolio of strategic investments is our priority. I would like to remind you of an important event that took place in the first quarter of this year.

We decided to sell our stake in ASECO and allocated the proceeds to the partial early repayment of our loan in the amount of 681,000,000 PLN, which further strengthens our client's position. Next slide, please. Ladies and gentlemen, the year 02/2024 was full of significant events for our group in each segment. It was a very successful year for our company, both in terms of business results and financial achievements. Our TMT business is developing organically according to plan.

The execution of the strategy 02/2023 plus in the green energy segment is already bringing tangible results. Good operational results translated into significant increases in both revenues and EBITDA. I'm proud of the achievements of the past year, and I look to the future with optimism. Now let's move on to the detailed operational results of our business segments, starting with the media segment. Maciek, over to you.

Maciek, VP Strategy, Polsat Plus Group: Thank you, Mirek. Hello, everyone. Indeed, like Mirek said, we had very good results in our operating segments in the fourth quarter and 2024. So let me start with the media segment. Next slide, please.

The fourth quarter was very good for TVPulsaat. We had a strong position both in terms of, viewership and advertising. The audience share of our thematic channels grew to 15.2%, driving up the total audience share, of our channels, to 22.7%. Our main channel, Post Hat, had a share of 7.5%, which is a stable result year over year. Advertising spending in the fourth quarter grew at the rate of almost 3%.

During this time, our TV advertising revenue increased by 1.8%, which gave us a market share of 28%. Can I have the next slide, please? In my opinion, it's always better to look at the performance of our media segment over a longer time horizon because of, seasonality. On this slide, we have the results, for the full year. Our position in terms of audience shares remained strong throughout the year.

Our main channel, Pulsat, achieved, 7.1% of audience shares, and our thematic channels had, 14.9%. As a result, our portfolio of TV channels maintained high stable audience share of 22%. This is an excellent, result because, please remember that, last year, we had the Olympic Games in Paris and the UEFA European championships in Germany, which were broadcast by our competitors. So I'm very satisfied that we maintained a stable position, which is in line with our long term strategy. In 2024, the TV advertising market expanded at 5.9%.

Our advertising revenue grew at a slightly lower rate of 4.2%, reaching almost 1,400,000,000.0 zlotus. And as a result, we had 28% of market share at the at the end of last year, a very good result. Can I have the next slide, please? Let's move on to our online business. We are particularly proud the results of Posat Interior because, as you can see on this slide, we have successfully built our position in the online market.

In 2024, Postat Interior Group was the number one Internet publisher in Poland in terms of real users. We are also very pleased that in 2024, Postat Interior Group remained the market leader in the mobile category because because the amount of content consumed on the small screen is rapidly growing, and this leading position gives us a competitive edge. In the fourth quarter of twenty twenty four, the average monthly number of our users reached 20,800,000, and the number of page views exceeded 1,800,000,000, demonstrating our strong market presence. We see synergies between Interior and Postal at a daily basis, and this business leg delivers consistent, solid financial, results. Next slide, please.

Summarizing, 2024 was a very good year for both television and interior. Our TV channels had a audience share of 22%, and we increased advertising and sponsor re sponsorship revenues by over 4%, while Interior became a leading player in the online market. As you can see, we focus on producing, engaging content, particularly our own published productions, which are extremely important to our viewers. In the first column, you can see our, own productions. These are proven formats, series, and content that, are well known and loved by our viewers.

This attractive own content in the Polish language translates into a very good viewership results for our channels both in 2024 and at the beginning of 2025. The second pillar is strengthening the sports, channel offering. As you can see on the left side, we are extremely pleased, with our sports offering for the coming years. As you know, we have acquired the rights to Formula One, which is performing very well on 11 sport channels network. We also purchased the rights to the Europa League and Conference League where Polish teams are playing, they are doing very well.

We are broadcasting Bundesliga since the beginning of 2025, and we have renewed the rights to broadcast the French league league. And the last but not least, we are also very happy that national handball, both women's and men's, is returning to postal support channels. So we have two pillars, entertainment and series production, and sports focused on major rides, but also on Polish sports. We expect that in 2025, we will continue our good streak both in terms of viewership and advertising market. Next slide, please.

Moving on to the b two c and b two b services segment, I can say that we had a very good quarter and year in, this segment as well. Let's look at the results. Next slide, please. As you know, in this segment, we have been consistently implementing the multiplay strategy for many years, and we focus our efforts on building customer value and loyalty. We have a stable base of multiplay customers despite challenging market conditions.

We operate in a highly competitive environment, and we are facing macroeconomic headwinds. Interest rates remain high at 5.75% and high cumulated inflation over the past, years. Despite all of this, our multiplayer customer base increased by 2.4 to over 2,500,000 customers, representing 44% of our total customer base. This group contracted a total of 7,700,000 services, making an increase of 261,000 year on year. At the end of the fourth quarter of twenty twenty four, churn decreased to only 7%.

This shows customer loyalty and the very good quality of these services relative to the prices. This makes me very happy because it indicates a long term relationship with our customers. We are confident that as, we continue our multiplay offerings, we will maintain the slow churn rate in the future. Can I have the next slide, please? We provided over 13,000,000 contract services to our b two c customers by the end of the fourth quarter of twenty twenty four.

Mobile telephony and Internet services were the key drivers of, this growth. We added a 91,000 mobile voice services, reaching a total of 6,400,000. Internet access services also grew by 95,000 up to 2,100,000. Our pay TV base is facing some pressure, but, we successfully mitigated this with a growing number of pay TV services in IPTV and OTT technologies. These new technologies are helping us offset the decline in traditional pay TV services.

Next slide, please. ARPU per contract b two c customer remains, on a dynamic growth path reflecting the success of our multiplay strategy and the strong demand for our services. In the fourth quarter of twenty twenty four, ARPU increased by 5.2% year over year up to 77.4 zloty. Effective upselling of, products to our existing and new customers, is a strong driver of this increase and is reflected in the high level of RGUs saturation per customer. In the fourth quarter of twenty twenty four, it was 2.3 services per customer.

Additionally, growing demand for data driven by the popularization of five g tariffs is a positive factor for us. As Mirek mentioned in the introduction, we acquired five g frequencies, the c band and, the the 700 megahertz, and we renewed the 2.6 gigahertz, TDD frequency. All these frequencies will help us, to improve both coverage and quality of our five g network and will support our results going forward. Next slide, please. In the prepaid segment, we provided 2,500,000 services at the end of twenty twenty four.

I want to emphasize, that we have maintained a stable base of prepaid services in a highly competitive, market. We focus on building RPO. Despite a slight decrease in the base, we maintain a stable RPO level of 17.3 at the end of the fourth quarter. This is a good result, especially considering the fierce competition in this market segment. Next slide, please.

I'm also very pleased with our performance in the b to b segment in the fourth quarter of twenty twenty four and the full year. As you can see, we can see that we maintain a high and stable base over 68,000 b two b customers over the long term. At the same time, ARPU per b two b customer increased by 4.6%, close to 5% in the fourth quarter to, 1,530 zlotus. This increase in ARPU highlights, our commitment to delivering high value, tailor managed services, to our business customers that meet their needs and expectations. Before we move to the green energy, let me briefly sum up our results in the b two c and b two b services segment.

This was a very good quarter and the entire year for us. We continue to grow thanks to our multiplay strategy. ARPU growth is consistently high in our key customer groups, 5.2% per b two c customer and 4.6% per b two b customer in the fourth quarter. Also, churn is consistently low and falling only 7% at the end of twenty twenty four. These results showcase our strategic goal, which is to build customer value and loyalty.

Can I have the next slide, please? Today, I'm very excited to share some remarkable achievements in our green energy segment. Only three and a half years ago, in December 2021, we announced our ambitious strategy twenty twenty three plus, aiming to transform Posad plus Group, into a leader in connectivity, content, and clean energy. We set two new goals, to become a leading producer of clean green energy and green hydrogen. This afternoon, I'm delighted to announce that we have successfully realized these objectives.

Can I have the next slide, please? We achieved our first goal, and today, we are a leading producer of clean green energy. We have hundred and five megawatt installed in two biomass units and 82 megawatts completed in photovoltaic farms. Recognizing the potential of wind power, we decided to focus, our investments in this renewable energy source. It will soon, have nearly 300 megawatts, installed, including our flagship Zerzevo wind farm with a capacity of 39 megawatts.

With these strategic investments, we are on a track to reach over, 1,700 gigawatt hours of clean energy production within just five years after announcing our strategy. To put this into perspective, 1,700 gigawatt hours represent approximately 1% of Poland's total energy consumption, a truly remarkable achievement. Furthermore, we will reach this milestone with lower investment costs that we initially projected. By 2026, our investments expenditures will amount to about 3,900,000,000.0 zlotis, which is 1,100,000,000.0 less than our 2021 guidance. Next slide, please.

We have also reached our second major goal by establishing a complete green hydrogen value chain. Today, we produce green hydrogen using renewable energy, thanks to our 2.5 megawatts electrolyzers in Konyin, which can produce even a thousand kilogram of green hydrogen every day. That's enough to refuel about forty, fifty NESA buses daily. We are also working on 0.5 megawatts alkaline electrolyzer, which will will boost our hydrogen production capacity in the future. We used 10 hydrogen trailers to store and transport our hydrogen to our network of six publicly available hydrogen refueling station across Poland.

We have developed a hydrogen powered bus, the Neso bus. Already, 19 Neso buses were sold or are contracted by various cities in Poland. Finally, we want to set a good example and decarbonize our car fleet at Polsat Plus Group by using 50 hydrogen powered cars. Just three years after announcing our strategy twenty twenty three plus, we've established a fully operational green hydrogen chain. As we move forward, we'll be testing, optimizing, and scaling it according to the market demand.

Next slide, please. Over the past year, we have recorded a dynamic growth in our green energy production driven by our expanding capacity for wind energy generation. In the fourth quarter of twenty twenty four, our green energy production increased by an impressive 64% year over year, reaching 295 gigawatt hours. And the significant increase was the effect of commissioning of, 23 megawatts at the Schuhof and Shiroff wind farms. But the successful and timely developed of our wind projects not only highlights our commitment to sustainable energy, but also shows our ability to execute large scale projects efficiently.

For the entire year of 2024, our green energy production grew by 53% compared to, the previous year, exceeding 1,000 gigawatt hours. It mean we produced more than one terawatt hour of the green clean energy. One of our most ambitious, projects, the construction of the largest wind farm in Zhejirov with a capacity of a 39 megawatts is progressing ahead of schedule. I would say, we have already assembled 32 turbines out of 63. At this rate, we are likely to launch the first turbine in technical commissioning before the end of the second quarter, which means that this farm will start to generate revenue very soon.

Next slide, please. And now it's my great pleasure to report that in 2024, we have generated already 282,000,000 zlotas of EBITDA in our green energy segment. This is a very impressive result considering that it has only been, three and a half years since we started to build this business segment. In the fourth quarter of twenty twenty four, EBITDA of the green energy segment was 79,000,000. This result was driven mainly by the expansion of our renewable energy capacity to three thirty eight megawatts at the end of the year from 215 megawatts at the end of twenty twenty three.

Additionally, in 2024, we were able to secure favorable terms, for the supply of biomass, and we also enjoyed a stable regulatory environment, which is very important in the energy sector. As I have already mentioned, EBITDA for the full year amounted to 282,000,000 zlotis. Please remember that we started to consolidate our green energy segment since July 2023, so the results for the full year are not fully comparable. Looking ahead to 2025, with the completion of the Zheva Wind farm, we will double our installed capacity in wind power, and this expansion will further support our EBITDA growth in the future and solidify our position in the renewable energy market. Next slide, please.

On this slide, I'm very pleased to present the progress we've made with our 2023 plus strategy. I'm incredibly proud because today we can say that we will successfully meet our ambitious target of 500,000,000 zlotas of EBITDA by 2026. What's more, we will achieve this target with lower CapEx. We will spend 1,100,000,000.0 zlotus less than we assumed. Back in 2021, we announced that we want to generate 506 hundred million zlotus of incremental EBITDA annually from our new energy business in 2026.

In 2024, we have already reached nearly 300,000,000 zlotis with the contribution from Zerzevo Wind Farm. I'm confident that in 2026, we will deliver the promised EBITDA of about 500,000,000 zlotys. We estimate that in 2026, our energy production capabilities will reach 1.7 terawatt hours annually, representing approximately 1% of Poland's total energy consumption. Just three years after announcing the strategy, we'll we already have assets that allowed us to produce over one terawatt hour of green energy in 2024. More importantly, we achieved all this with the lower investment expenditures.

By the end of twenty twenty four, we have spent 3,200,000,000.0 zlotus in total, and we anticipate that at the end of twenty twenty six, our CapEx for the development of this segment will settle at about 3,900,000,000.0 zlotus. That is 1,100,000,000 less than the originally assumed 5,000,000,000. Ladies and gentlemen, this was my last slide. I would quickly like to sum up, my part of the presentation. All our business segments performed very well both in the fourth quarter and the full year 2024.

In the b two c and b two b segment, we execute our long term, multiplay strategies centered around increasing customer value and customer loyalty. This is reflected in growing ARPU in our key customer segments and consistently low churn. In the media segment, we maintain very good viewership figures on a strongly fragmented market, and we have a solid position in TV advertising. We are also successfully building the position of Postat Intervia Group, which is now a leading player in the online market. And finally, in the green energy segment, we are finalizing our strategic investments, and this business segment is moving from the development phase to the business as usual phase.

I'm extremely happy to confirm that in 2026, we will deliver on our promises by generating approximately 500,000,000 zlotas of VEBA from our energy segment using less CapEx by 1,100,000,000.0 zlotas. And that's all from me today. Thank you very much for your attention. Kasia, over to you.

Katarzyna Ostabtaman, CFO, ESG Management Board Member, Polsat Plus Group: Thanks, Maciek. Welcome, everyone. Like Mirek and Maciek, I'm also extremely pleased with the result of the past year and the fourth quarter. Despite numerous challenges, we ended 02/2024 above expectations. Next slide, please.

This slide shows the key financial indicators for the fourth quarter and the entire year. As you can see, we have indeed achieved very good results. This is yet another quarter in which we report solid, repeatable financial results, which makes me very, very happy. Revenue in the fourth quarter increased by 4% and for the entire year 02/2024 by nearly 5%. Adjusted EBITDA for onetime factors in the fourth quarter amounted to 740,000,000 zlotis, while for the entire year, it was at the level of 3,300,000,000.0 zlotis.

This means growth rates of nearly 10% in both analyzed periods, which in my opinion is a great success. We also see strong increases at the net profit level. In the fourth quarter, we recorded a net profit increase of nearly 29% to 168,000,000 zlotis, while the entire year closed with a net profit of almost 800,000,000 zlotis. Next slide, please. Here, we have free cash flow, which after adjusting for green energy expenditures, amounts to over one b one point three billion zlotis.

This indicates the group's high ability to generate cash. We will return to free cash flow on one of the next slides. Net debt to EBITDA increased from three fifty one to just $3.59 despite huge investments in green energy during the year. This is an incredibly good result also in the terms of our debt. This is partly due to the very good EBITDA result, effective cash management at the group level, and slightly different phasing of CapEx.

Please note that in 02/2025, we still have some expenses to complete the wind farm in. Therefore, I expect that the leverage might still increase before we move to the leveraging phase after completing the rest investments. Next slide, please. Here we see the the composition of revenue and EBITDA for the fourth quarter. First of all, I would like to draw your attention to the increasingly better results of the b two c and b two b services segment.

Retail revenue from our customers is growing, and thanks to effective cost control, EBITDA in this segment is stabilizing. In the fourth quarter, the media segment was under pressure in terms of EBITDA results. This is mainly due to higher production costs. As you know, the fourth quarter is the quarter in which we broadcast the autumn scheduling. And, additionally, we decided to write off some programming assets.

We see a strong contribution of the green energy segment to EBITDA, 81,000,000. Matzek has talked about this in detail on one of his slides and discussed the drivers. As you might remember, during the last conference, I flagged that in the real estate segment, we will recognize much higher results in the fourth quarter. And as expected, you can see this contribution here. In the fourth quarter, we handed over a large pool of apartments from our completed investments in Port Prasqui to customers.

In the February, the contribution will be smaller as most of the apartments have already been handed over. Next slide, please. Here, you can see the contribution of individual segments to the group's revenue and EBITDA for the entire 02/2024. Revenue growth of nearly 5% and adjusted EBITDA of nearly 10% is mainly due to the energy segment. Please remember that 02/2023 and 02/2024 are not fully comparable as the consolidation of the new segment began in mid two thousand twenty three.

The results of the real estate segment for the full year are largely the result of handing over the apartments to customers as mentioned on the previous slide. Also, good results in the media segment. Revenue growth of 22,000,000 and EBITDA of 14,000,000 year over year. So we see here the effects of very good operational results, which Matijk talked about. As I mentioned in my previous slide, the b to b and b to c services segment is doing better and better, and here, the results are slowly stabilizing.

Next slide, please. Here, you can see our free cash flow. Despite the high level of interest cost, our free cash flow in 02/2024 adjusted for nonrecurring expenses and CapEx for the development of the green energy segment amounted to over 1,300,000,000.0 zlotis. This is a very good result that shows our potential to convert EBITDA into cash. Interest and leasing costs, net of hedging instruments, settled at the level of over 1,400,000,000.0.

Of course, most of this position is interest costs, which are beyond our control and are determined by the decision of the National Bank of Bank of Poland. You can also see the outflows for the reservation of telecommunication frequencies throughout the year. This amounted to 550,000,000 zlotis. Please remember that we obtained the reservation of one block in the 700 megahertz for 263,000,000 zlotis. And in the second quarter of this year, we will renew the reservation of frequencies in the 900 megahertz band.

These two factors imply an outflow of nearly 1,000,000,000 zlotis. Acquisitions amounting to just over 200,000,000 are the result of setting the transaction of acquiring shares in Pantanomo in 02/2023. Next slide, please. We move on to discussing capital and investment expenditures. In the TMT area, the b two c and b two b services segment and the media segment remains CapEx light.

Here, CapEx is at the level of about 6% of revenue both in the fourth quarter and the entire year. In the fourth quarter, we spent nearly 400,000,000 zlotis on green energy, and in the entire year 02/2024, nearly 1,000,000,000 zlotis on investments in green energy. We are building according to the schedule and budget, and I would even say that the projects are being completed ahead of schedule. In 02/2025, we are finishing the investment in. And, basically, from 02/1926, you should expect a significant reduction in investment expenditures in this segment because, as you know, investments in energy are characterized by very high capital intensity in the initial phase of implementation.

And after the farms are operational, maintenance CapEx in the long term remains at a low level. Next slide, please. The last slide shows the group's debt. As I mentioned, the net debt to EBITDA ratio is three fifty nine in 02/2024, increasing only slightly despite high investments during the year. The weighted average cost of interest on loans and bonds is 8.3%, which is roughly the same as at the end of the previous year.

In this slide, you can see the maturity of our debt at the end of two thousand twenty four. I would like to remind you that in the first quarter, after selling ASECO shares, we prepaid the nearest capital installments on the term loan, so debt maturity will be different at the end of the first quarter. I'm very pleased that thanks to this, we will save around 30,000,000 zlotis on interest. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to conclude my part of the presentation. I'm very pleased with the financial results of our group in the fourth quarter and the entire year of 02/2024.

I'm very happy with the consistent revenue growth and EBITDA result. We are approaching the end of investments in the development of the energy segment and moving to the monetization phase of these investments. This means that in the coming periods, this segment will increasingly contribute to the group's results. Thank you very much for your attention, and I hand over to Mirek for the summary.

Mirosław Bostrok, CEO, Polsat Plus Group: Thank you, Kasia and Maciek. Before we move on to the q and a session, I will briefly summarize 02/2024 and present our goals for 02/2025. Next slide, please. We entered 02/2024 with very good operational results in each of our business segments and excellent financial results for the group. I'm extremely pleased and proud of our achievements in the past year.

In the b two c and b two b services segment, we constantly implement our multiplay strategy, building customer value and loyalty. This resulted in an increase in RPU in the b to c and b to b customer groups, and the churn rate decreased to just 7%. Additionally, we maintain a stable position in highly competitive prepaid service market. We consistently develop our networks, mobile and fixed. The plus five g network is already available to 26,000,000 people, which is 70% of Poland's population, and our fixed Internet service covers 11,000,000 households.

In the media segment, we made a high and stable viewership results and a strong position in the advertising market in line with our strategy. Interior has positioned itself as a leader in the Internet market. With the attractive programming offer for our viewers in mind, we have strengthened our portfolio of sports rights. In the green energy segment, we maintain our strategic goal of approximately 500,000,000 PLN EBITDA in 02/1926. In the green energy segment, we maintain our strategic goal of approximately 500,000,000 PLN EBITDA in 02/1926, but more importantly, with investment expenditures over 1,000,000,000 PLN lower than originally planned.

Thanks to the dynamic implementation of our energy investments, the installed capacity in wind farms increased to 150 megawatts, and we completed the green hydrogen value chain by starting the production of green hydrogen using our own electrolyzer. I'm particularly pleased with the very good financial results of the group. We recorded strong growth in revenues and EBITDA, effectively managing our investment within the strategy February and to keeping cost under control. In summary, 02/2024 was an intensive year full of efforts of our part of execute our strategic plans. In summary, 02/2024 was an intensive year full of efforts on our part to execute our strategic plans.

Looking at the first month of 02/2025, I'm also optimistic about this year. Next slide, please. In 02/2025, we intend to continue our long term strategy of building value in each segment. In the b two c and b two b service area, we aim to further increase our PO while maintaining a low churn rate through our multiplayer strategy. By integrating content, mobile Internet, fixed Internet, and telephone services, we provide our customers with a comprehensive and valuable offer.

We will consistently expand our five g network using the 3.6 gigahertz and 700 megahertz bands to provide even faster and more reliable Internet access to even more poll people in Poland. In the media segment, our priority remains to maintain high viewership results for our channels and the strong position in the TV advertising market. We aim to use our content to attract and retain viewers, ensuring that our media segment remains solid. In the green energy segment, we will focus on completing the construction and launching the Jejuvaux wind farm. This farm will double our installed wind capacity to nearly 300 megawatts by the February, significantly increasing our green energy production capabilities.

The strategic investment in this segment are almost completed and really focus on maximizing revenues from the sale of green energy. In the finance area, we will continue to manage investments and control cost effectively. This will ensure financial discipline and support sustainable growth. At the same time, after completing the main strategic investments in the revenue of energy, we want to focus on reducing the group's debt. To conclude our presentation, I think it is the perfect moment to remind you once again for our long term strategy.

Next slide, please. Ladies and gentlemen, our operations are based on three key business pillars. In the telecommunication and content areas, we have been successfully implementing the multiplay strategy for many years. These are well developed, stable segment that generates strong recurring cash flows. The construction of a new third pillar, green energy, is slowly coming to an end, and we are slowly transitioning to the monetization pace of our investments in this segment.

All this combined with cost discipline and maximizing cash flows allowed us to achieve our primary goal, which is to build the group's value for our shareholders. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's presentation. Thank you very much for your attention. We are now happy to answer your questions.

Q&A Moderator: Thank you very much. I have three questions in in the q and a panel. All of them come from Laura Mankey from Erste Group. Thank you for the quest presentation. I'd have three questions, if I may.

The first one is which quarter can we expect the majority of the remaining expenditures on the Drejevo wind farm?

Katarzyna Ostabtaman, CFO, ESG Management Board Member, Polsat Plus Group: The cash outflow will be mainly February.

Q&A Moderator: Shall we expect further write offs in the media segment in the future?

Katarzyna Ostabtaman, CFO, ESG Management Board Member, Polsat Plus Group: Not to this extent because always there will be some small amount written off at the end of each year, but not in the amount of this year.

Q&A Moderator: Thank you. And and Nora's last question. If the Polish Central Bank cuts the interest rate as expected by the market, can we expect CPS to refinance the existing debt?

Katarzyna Ostabtaman, CFO, ESG Management Board Member, Polsat Plus Group: At the moment, we do not consider refinancing our existing debt.

Q&A Moderator: That's all the questions I have in the chat section. So thank you very much for joining us today, and, I pass the floor over to, mister Bostak.

Mirosław Bostrok, CEO, Polsat Plus Group: Thank you for participating in today's presentation of the operational and financial results of our group in 02/2024. I hope that we have answered all questions, and we hope to hear from you at the presentation of the results of our group for the February. Thank you, and have a nice day.

Q&A Moderator: Thank you. Bye bye.

Mirosław Bostrok, CEO, Polsat Plus Group: Thank you. Bye bye.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

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