Tiscali, all the news (and red 2021)
Tiscali: loss in 2021, Davide Rota new CEO, the Tiscali-Linkem merger project at closing. Facts, names and numbers
At the final rush, the integration project of Tiscali, a Sardinian telecommunications company with the greatest fiber coverage available in Italy founded by Renato Soru, with the retail branch of Linkem, the leading operator in broadband access with wireless technologies (Fwa).
Yesterday the board of directors of Tiscali appointed Davide Rota, former founder and CEO of Linkem, as the new managing director.
“The appointment of Rota – explains the joint note – marks another step towards the completion of the industrial plan launched by the Tiscali Group and the Linkem Group with the signing of the merger agreement in December 2021 . The operation aims to integrate the Tiscali Group and the retail branch of the Linkem Group into a single corporate and commercial entity. The latter will become the main shareholder of Tiscali with approximately 62% of the shares.
Therefore, from the merger, the company will become the fifth operator in the fixed market and the first player in the segment of ultra-broadband access in Fwa (fixed wireless access) and FTTH (fiber to the home) technologies, with an overall market share equal to 19.4% ( Agcom data source ).
Finally, the shareholders' meeting of Tiscali approved the 2021 financial statements, marked by a net loss of 20.6 million euros (a slight improvement compared to that of 2020 equal to 22.2 million euros). At the same time, the meeting approved a new convertible and converting bond loan reserved for Nice & Green SA for an amount equal to Euro 90 million, “in continuity with the existing relationships with N&G”, adds the Tiscali note .
Both the management of the companies have already started the preparation of the joint industrial plan 2022-2025.
All the details.
THE NEW GOVERNANCE
After the election of the new Board of Directors by the shareholders' meeting, the Tiscali board appointed Davide Rota as CEO, while the founder Renato Soru was appointed chairman of the company. Rota will continue to hold the position of chairman of Linkem, which will be led by the new CEO, Massimo Arciulo, appointed in March 2022.
SHAREHOLDERS
Therefore, after the merger by incorporation into telco, Tiscali will pass under the control of Linkem (62%). Furthermore, Soru will keep a direct and indirect stake in Tiscali for a total of 4.58% while the director Alberto Trondoli holds an indirect stake in Tiscali SpA through Amsicora Srl, which holds 8.12% of the share capital.
As reported by Il Sole 24 Ore, “Davide Rota will be the new CEO, as well as a shareholder in a personal capacity. "I have acquired a number of shares that should be consistent with a few years of my remuneration", he confirms to Sole 24 Ore Rota, which qualifies the purchase of the shares as "proof of the confidence I have in this operation and in this company".
THE TISCALI STRATEGY
“Three years have passed since my return to Tiscali, which I founded almost 25 years ago and which I already left for the first time in 2004” commented Soru. “In 2019, together with Claudio Costamagna, Alberto Trondoli and some other shareholders of Amsicora, we took over the responsibility of guaranteeing a future to a company that, with the disengagement of previous Russian investors, was experiencing a period of particular difficulty. Our goal was to better balance the accounts, renew the offer, direct the company on new services in the Cloud and finally strengthen it with a consolidation operation. These results have been achieved and the integration with Linkem, in addition to doubling turnover and improving economic and financial data, also brings with it the arrival of new major controlling shareholders, capable of guaranteeing the future growth of the company "he declared the founder of Tiscali.
THE NUMBERS OF 2021
The telecommunications company released its results for the 2021 financial year on 6 April, which closed with revenues of 144.2 million euros, almost stable compared to the 144 in 2020. The gross operating margin decreased from 29.1 to 28. millions. Net debt had fallen to 88 million, three less than the value at the beginning of the year.
BUDGET REMAINS RED
But the company closed the balance again in the negative: it recorded a loss of 20.6 million euros in 2021, although an improvement of 1.6 million euros compared to the 2020 financial year.
THE DROP IN THE FIXED BROADBAND CUSTOMER BASE
In addition, Tiscali recorded a decline in the fixed broadband customer base: approximately 351 thousand users at December 31, 2021, compared to 377 thousand users at December 31, 2020, equal to 6.9%.
BUT IMPROVING CUSTOMERS IN FIBER
However, the group showed an improvement in the mix of the customer base with a significant growth in the number of fiber customers, which increased by 26.1% from 223 thousand users at December 31, 2020 to 281 thousand users at December 31, 2021.
THE PREPARATION OF THE JOINT INDUSTRIAL PLAN 2022-2025 LAUNCHED
Finally, the directors of Tiscali together with those of Linkem Retail Srl, have started the preparation of the Industrial Plan 2022-2025 Combined. This joint industrial plan – explains the note – will be based on the following assumptions: the consolidation of the business to consumer ("B2C") customer base to be achieved mainly through the exploitation of Fiber – Fixed Wireless 5G technologies, of which the combined entity will be the leader market; strengthening of the business to business ("B2B") and business to government segments; the exploitation of the opportunities deriving from “Smart Cities” projects and from the digitization needs of the public administration, also through public-private partnership mechanisms; the repositioning of the brand on digital services and the strengthening of sales on digital channels also through a greater focus on the Tiscali.it portal; the minimization of non-customer related investments and the further reduction of network costs thanks to the agreement signed with Tim on landlines and MVNOs.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/tiscali-tutte-le-novita-e-il-rosso-2021/ on Tue, 17 May 2022 10:41:00 +0000.