TIGO
Millicom InternationalFDocument history
Earnings documents stored for TIGO.
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-08-07Millicom International Cellular Q2 Earnings Call Highlights
MarketBeat
Millicom International Cellular Q2 Earnings Call Highlights
Interested in Millicom International Cellular SA? Here are five stocks we like better. Record financial performance: Q2 service revenue rose 5.4% organically to $2 billion, while adjusted EBITDA reached $1 billion and equity free cash flow increased more than 50% to a record $327 million. Raised outlook and dividend: Millicom lifted 2026 equity free cash flow guidance to approximately $1.1 billion from at least $900 million previously, and expects year-end leverage below 2.5x. The board also approved an additional interim dividend of $1.50 per share. Growth supported by acquisitions and core operations: Colombia delivered 11% organic service-revenue growth as Coltel integration progressed, while mobile, digital B2B services and prepaid-to-postpaid migrations supported group performance. The company is increasing investment in Colombia, including plans for full 5G coverage and 1,000 additional sites. Millicom International Cellular (NASDAQ:TIGO) reported second-quarter 2026 service revenue of $2 billion, up 5.4% organically year over year and 60.1% on a reported basis, as its prepaid-to-postpaid migration strategy, pricing actions and recent acquisitions supported growth. Adjusted EBITDA reached a company record of $1 billion, while equity free cash flow rose more than 50% from a year earlier to a record $327 million. Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Benítez said the results reflected continued execution on customer service, pricing, efficiency and cash-flow priorities while the company integrates recently acquired businesses. He said the company’s acquisitions were already equity-free-cash-flow accretive within their first year, including their associated financing costs. → Meta’s Earnings Drop Shows Wall Street Wants More Than Ad Growth Based on first-half results and visibility into the rest of the year, Millicom raised its 2026 equity free cash flow guidance to about $1.1 billion from a prior target of at least $900 million. The company also now expects year-end leverage to fall below 2.5 times, compared with leverage of 2.73 times at the end of the second quarter. The board approved an additional interim dividend of $1.50 per share, payable in two installments of $0.75 per share in January and April 2027. → 4 Oil and Gas ETF Plays as Prices Stay Sky-High Mobile service revenue increased 6.9% organically year over year to $1.2 billion. Benítez said the com…Read full documentShow less
Interested in Millicom International Cellular SA? Here are five stocks we like better. Record financial performance: Q2 service revenue rose 5.4% organically to $2 billion, while adjusted EBITDA reached $1 billion and equity free cash flow increased more than 50% to a record $327 million. Raised outlook and dividend: Millicom lifted 2026 equity free cash flow guidance to approximately $1.1 billion from at least $900 million previously, and expects year-end leverage below 2.5x. The board also approved an additional interim dividend of $1.50 per share. Growth supported by acquisitions and core operations: Colombia delivered 11% organic service-revenue growth as Coltel integration progressed, while mobile, digital B2B services and prepaid-to-postpaid migrations supported group performance. The company is increasing investment in Colombia, including plans for full 5G coverage and 1,000 additional sites. Millicom International Cellular (NASDAQ:TIGO) reported second-quarter 2026 service revenue of $2 billion, up 5.4% organically year over year and 60.1% on a reported basis, as its prepaid-to-postpaid migration strategy, pricing actions and recent acquisitions supported growth. Adjusted EBITDA reached a company record of $1 billion, while equity free cash flow rose more than 50% from a year earlier to a record $327 million. Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Benítez said the results reflected continued execution on customer service, pricing, efficiency and cash-flow priorities while the company integrates recently acquired businesses. He said the company’s acquisitions were already equity-free-cash-flow accretive within their first year, including their associated financing costs. → Meta’s Earnings Drop Shows Wall Street Wants More Than Ad Growth Based on first-half results and visibility into the rest of the year, Millicom raised its 2026 equity free cash flow guidance to about $1.1 billion from a prior target of at least $900 million. The company also now expects year-end leverage to fall below 2.5 times, compared with leverage of 2.73 times at the end of the second quarter. The board approved an additional interim dividend of $1.50 per share, payable in two installments of $0.75 per share in January and April 2027. → 4 Oil and Gas ETF Plays as Prices Stay Sky-High Mobile service revenue increased 6.9% organically year over year to $1.2 billion. Benítez said the company’s “more for more” prepaid strategy is designed to offer customers more data and connectivity while supporting sustainable average revenue per user growth. Millicom also continued to migrate selected prepaid customers to postpaid plans, with about two-thirds of new postpaid sales coming from those migrations. Excluding mergers and acquisitions, postpaid net additions increased by 167,000 sequentially. Millicom’s postpaid customer base has expanded more than 31% over the past year, Benítez said. Conversion rates had softened temporarily after the Coltel acquisition in Colombia as the company aligned commercial practices, but have since returned to historical levels, according to management. → Sandisk Just Delivered a Blowout Quarter—Here's Why the Stock Is Falling Home service revenue rose 3% organically to $513 million. The company said disciplined pricing, higher-value broadband offers, fixed-mobile convergence and FIFA World Cup content supported the result. Benítez noted that subscriber reporting normalization in Colombia affected reported prepaid and home subscriber figures, but said this reflected an accounting and reporting alignment rather than underlying business deterioration. He added that the World Cup had a meaningful effect on home revenue, with 80% of the segment’s 3% growth attributed to the event. Management expects 60% of the World Cup impact in the second quarter and 40% in the third quarter. Fixed-mobile convergence penetration approached 40% across the group and reached 44% in Colombia. Business-to-business service revenue increased 3.8% year over year to $401 million. Digital-services revenue, including cloud, cybersecurity and managed services, climbed 14% to $120 million. Small and medium-sized enterprise revenue grew 8%, the company said. Colombia, which included a full quarter of Coltel under Millicom ownership following the April transaction completion, generated organic service revenue growth of 11% to $816 million. Management said mobile, home and B2B each contributed to the increase. Colombia adjusted EBITDA rose 3.9% year over year to $336 million, including more than $30 million in severance payments during the quarter and roughly $100 million year to date. The country’s adjusted EBITDA margin was 39.4%. Chief Financial Officer Bart Vanhaeren said cost-saving initiatives were running ahead of plan and profitability had moved toward levels comparable with the legacy Tigo UNE operation. He said the company still expected Colombia’s full-year EBITDA margin to be roughly in line with 2025, while noting potential margin pressure from rebranding and other costs later in the year. Guatemala service revenue increased 5.9% to $382 million, while adjusted EBITDA rose 6.3% to $245 million and margin reached 55.6%. Panama service revenue grew 3.1% to $175 million after a price adjustment was reinstated following a prior regulatory suspension. Paraguay service revenue increased 3.4% to $169 million, and adjusted EBITDA rose nearly 17% to $100 million. Margin expanded 6.4 percentage points to 56.9%. Ecuador service revenue was broadly flat at $112 million, while pro forma adjusted EBITDA increased nearly 40% to $58 million. The company expects margins to contract by a few percentage points in the second half as it launches the Tigo brand and increases marketing and promotional spending. Vanhaeren said second-quarter cash flow benefited from favorable expense timing and working-capital movements and cautioned against extrapolating the record quarterly result through the rest of the year. He said the company expected a lower third quarter followed by a stronger fourth quarter. Cash capital expenditures totaled $274 million, up $72 million from a year earlier, reflecting investments in acquired operations and Colombia’s customer device leasing program. Management expects capital expenditures to represent about 12% of revenue for the full year, with second-half spending increasing primarily because of Colombia. Benítez said Millicom plans full 5G coverage in Colombia and an additional 1,000 sites over the next 12 to 18 months. Millicom ended the quarter with net debt of $8.1 billion, compared with $7.6 billion at the start of the period. The increase reflected dividend distributions, M&A-related payments and appreciation of local-currency debt, though leverage declined from 2.76 times to 2.73 times. In Chile, Benítez said most planned restructuring was completed during the quarter, allowing management to focus on commercial and operational improvements. He said adjusted EBITDA sustainability had improved and equity free cash flow margin increased by 10 percentage points year over year. However, he characterized Chile as a highly competitive market marked by aggressive pricing and elevated churn. Millicom International Cellular SA, trading under the TIGO brand, is a Luxembourg‐headquartered telecommunications and media company that provides a range of mobile, cable broadband, digital television and enterprise services. Through its integrated infrastructure, the company delivers voice and data connectivity, high‐speed internet access and pay‐television packages to millions of customers, supported by ongoing investments in network coverage and capacity. Established in 1990 by Swedish investor Jan Stenbeck, Millicom has grown into a multi‐regional operator focused primarily on Central and South America. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Millicom International Cellular Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-08-06Millicom International Cellular SA (TIGO) (Q2 2026) Earnings Call Highlights: Record EBITDA and ...
GuruFocus.com
Millicom International Cellular SA (TIGO) (Q2 2026) Earnings Call Highlights: Record EBITDA and ...
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Release Date: August 06, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Millicom International Cellular SA (NASDAQ:TIGO) delivered record adjusted EBITDA of $1 billion for the first time in a single quarter, with organic growth of 9.1% year-over-year. The company raised its 2026 equity free cash flow guidance to around $1.1 billion, up from the previous target of at least $900 million, reflecting strong cash generation. Postpaid customer base grew by more than 31% year-over-year, driven by a successful prepaid-to-postpaid migration strategy, with two-thirds of new postpaid sales coming from prepaid conversions. Guatemala delivered its strongest quarterly performance in 10 years, with mobile service revenue growth of 6.4% and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 55.6%. Recent acquisitions, including Coltel and Chile, are already contributing positively to equity free cash flow within their first year of ownership, demonstrating effective integration and execution. The company improved its year-end leverage target to below 2.5 times, and the board approved an additional interim dividend of $1.50 per share, reflecting confidence in future cash flows. Reported prepaid and home subscriber figures in Colombia included a normalization effect due to harmonization of reporting standards, which temporarily distorted subscriber growth trends. The company incurred approximately $35 million in restructuring charges in Q2, primarily related to the Colombian integration, which slightly pressured adjusted EBITDA margins. Chile remains a highly competitive market with aggressive pricing and elevated churn, posing ongoing challenges despite early progress in restructuring and efficiency improvements. Home service revenue growth of 3% was partly driven by a one-off FIFA World Cup effect, with 80% of that growth attributed to the event, which may not be sustainable in the long term. Equity free cash flow in Q2 benefited from favorable expense timing and working capital movements, and management cautioned that the remainder of the year may not match this record level. The company expects margin contraction in Ecuador in the second half of 2026 due to planned marketing and promotional investments for the Tigo brand launch. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 10 Warning Signs with TIGO. Is TIG…Read full documentShow less
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Release Date: August 06, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Millicom International Cellular SA (NASDAQ:TIGO) delivered record adjusted EBITDA of $1 billion for the first time in a single quarter, with organic growth of 9.1% year-over-year. The company raised its 2026 equity free cash flow guidance to around $1.1 billion, up from the previous target of at least $900 million, reflecting strong cash generation. Postpaid customer base grew by more than 31% year-over-year, driven by a successful prepaid-to-postpaid migration strategy, with two-thirds of new postpaid sales coming from prepaid conversions. Guatemala delivered its strongest quarterly performance in 10 years, with mobile service revenue growth of 6.4% and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 55.6%. Recent acquisitions, including Coltel and Chile, are already contributing positively to equity free cash flow within their first year of ownership, demonstrating effective integration and execution. The company improved its year-end leverage target to below 2.5 times, and the board approved an additional interim dividend of $1.50 per share, reflecting confidence in future cash flows. Reported prepaid and home subscriber figures in Colombia included a normalization effect due to harmonization of reporting standards, which temporarily distorted subscriber growth trends. The company incurred approximately $35 million in restructuring charges in Q2, primarily related to the Colombian integration, which slightly pressured adjusted EBITDA margins. Chile remains a highly competitive market with aggressive pricing and elevated churn, posing ongoing challenges despite early progress in restructuring and efficiency improvements. Home service revenue growth of 3% was partly driven by a one-off FIFA World Cup effect, with 80% of that growth attributed to the event, which may not be sustainable in the long term. Equity free cash flow in Q2 benefited from favorable expense timing and working capital movements, and management cautioned that the remainder of the year may not match this record level. The company expects margin contraction in Ecuador in the second half of 2026 due to planned marketing and promotional investments for the Tigo brand launch. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 10 Warning Signs with TIGO. Is TIGO fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Q: What can you say about the phasing of cash flow for the remainder of the year, given the record Q2? Also, is the strong ARPU growth a leading indicator for continued service revenue growth, and what is the main challenge to sustaining improved profitability?A: CFO Bart van Aren noted that Q2 was an absolute record for equity free cash flow (EFCF) and cautioned against extrapolating it linearly, as the second half will likely see a lower Q3 and a strong Q4, with phasing effects from spectrum, interest charges, and working capital. CEO Marcelo Inites explained that ARPU growth is driven by the "more for more" strategy, extending prepaid customers' connection days and migrating them to postpaid, which is a sustainable growth driver. On profitability, he stated there is no "cross-discipline fatigue," as the efficiency model is now business as usual, with a cultural momentum focused on fighting inertia and adopting new criteria for OpEx and CapEx allocation, including the use of AI tools. Q: How do you see competition or disruption from satellite players like SpaceX/Starlink, and what is the phasing of integration costs? Do you stick with the full-year guidance for Colombia's EBITDA margin?A: CEO Marcelo Inites views satellite-to-phone technology as a poor experience compared to their 4G/5G networks, with limited indoor coverage and low throughput, and sees it as a complementary product for remote areas, not a threat. CFO Bart van Aren provided visibility on restructuring charges, expecting roughly $160-$170 million for the full year, with about 60% booked in H1 and a 50/50 split on a paid basis between H1 and H2. He confirmed that Colombia's full-year EBITDA margin is expected to be roughly in line with FY25. Q: Could you comment on the outlook for CapEx ahead, particularly regarding Colombia, and does the Argentina telecom deal change your strategy?A: CEO Marcelo Inites stated that CapEx will accelerate in Colombia due to an aggressive investment plan for full 5G coverage and 1,000 new sites over the next 12-18 months, with CapEx over revenues expected to be around 12% for the full year. CFO Bart van Aren added that on a cash basis, they are about 50% of the year, while on a booked basis, they are at 40%, indicating a ramp-up in the second half. Regarding Argentina, both executives confirmed it is not on the radar for expansion, along with Brazil and Mexico. Q: How has competition been in Chile, especially with recent front-book price movements?A: CEO Marcelo Inites acknowledged that Chile is a very tough, fragmented market with low ARPUs and strong promotional activity. However, he noted a positive recent movement in pricing by the industry, which is key for long-term sustainability. The primary focus remains on executing their playbook, which starts with efficiencies and simplification, and the first phase is already producing immediate results, with EFCF margin improving from 2% to 13% of revenue quarter-over-quarter. Q: Can you provide an update on the margin outlook for Colombia for 2026 and the long term, and what was the phasing effect impacting Paraguay's margins?A: CFO Bart van Aren stated that Colombia's Q2 margin was 39.4%, and while there may be some contraction due to rebranding efforts, savings from run-rate employee costs should offset this, leading to no dramatic shift for the full year. Regarding Paraguay, he explained that the margin expansion was partly due to currency appreciation, as some content rights are still in dollars, and the dollar is at an all-time low versus the guarani, which is an inorganic impact that may not be sustainable. Q: Given the strong cash generation, do you have any visibility on capital allocation for 2027, such as increasing dividends?A: CFO Bart van Aren explained that the Board has approved an additional interim dividend of $1.50 per share, payable in two installments. He reiterated his historical recommendation to distribute two-thirds of equity free cash flow, which would imply a dividend of around $4.50 per share based on the raised guidance of $1.1 billion. The Board will issue new guidance for 2027 on the back of Q4 results, and his recommendation will again be to distribute two-thirds of the guided EFCF. Q: Is the Paraguay margin sustainable, or was there anything unusual that should revert in the coming quarters?A: CEO Marcelo Inites clarified that the outstanding margin in Paraguay is largely due to currency appreciation, as a significant portion of content and soccer rights costs are still in dollars. The stronger the guarani, the lower the cost in dollar terms, which had an inorganic positive impact in Q2. He cautioned that predicting future currency movements is difficult, but this tailwind may not persist. Q: Can you elaborate on the subscriber normalization effect in Colombia and the underlying commercial momentum?A: CEO Marcelo Inites explained that the reported prepaid and home subscriber figures in Colombia included a normalization effect due to the harmonization of subscriber reporting standards and reduced promotional activity during the Kotel integration. This is an accounting and reporting alignment, not a deterioration in the underlying business. Excluding M&A, postpaid net adds increased by 167,000 sequentially, and home net adds were broadly stable, demonstrating healthy commercial momentum. Q: What drove the strong home service revenue growth, and is it sustainable?A: CEO Marcelo Inites attributed the 3% organic growth in home service revenue to disciplined pricing, high-value broadband offers, and the positive impact of FIFA World Cup broadcasting rights. He noted that 80% of the growth came from the World Cup effect, with 60% of that impact in Q2 and 40% in Q3, indicating a one-off boost that will not be fully repeatable in subsequent quarters. Q: How is the B2B segment performing, and what are the key growth drivers?A: CEO Marcelo Inites highlighted that B2B service revenue grew 3.8% year-over-year to $401 million, with digital services growing 14% to $120 million, driven by demand for cloud, cybersecurity, and managed services. The SME segment grew 8%, and the corporate segment benefits from cross-border solutions for multinationals. The government segment also presents opportunities, and the strategy of expanding beyond connectivity is strengthening the quality of the B2B revenue base. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-08-06Millicom International Cellular S.A. Q2 2026 Earnings Call Summary
Moby
Millicom International Cellular S.A. Q2 2026 Earnings Call Summary
Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Achieved record adjusted EBITDA of $1 billion, marking the first time the company has surpassed this milestone in a single quarter. Organic service revenue growth of 5% was the strongest since 2021, driven by disciplined pricing and the 'more-for-more' mobile strategy. The 'pre-to-post' migration strategy remains a primary growth engine, with approximately two-thirds of new postpaid sales coming from existing prepaid customers. Home segment performance was bolstered by exclusive FIFA World Cup broadcasting rights, which accounted for roughly 80% of the segment's 3% growth. The company completed the harmonization of subscriber reporting standards across the organization, resulting in a normalization effect in reported prepaid and Home subscriber figures in Colombia this quarter due to accounting and reporting alignment. The company is progressing with the Colombian integration and applying its playbook to recent acquisitions, which have become equity free cash flow accretive within their first year of ownership. B2B digital services grew 14% year-over-year, reflecting a strategic shift toward high-value cloud, cybersecurity, and managed services beyond basic connectivity. Raised 2026 equity free cash flow guidance from at least $900 million to approximately $1.1 billion based on strong first-half visibility. Improved year-end leverage target to below 2.5x, reflecting confidence in the cash-generating capacity of the expanded portfolio. Anticipate a temporary margin contraction in Ecuador during the second half of 2026 due to incremental marketing investments for the Tigo brand launch. Expect an acceleration in Colombia CapEx to roughly 12% of revenue to support full 5G coverage and the deployment of 1,000 additional sites. Projecting a total of $160 million to $170 million in restructuring charges for the full year, with approximately 50% of the cash impact remaining for the second half. Incurred $35 million in restructuring charges during Q2, primarily associated with the Colombian integration and severance payments. Subscriber figures in Colombia reflect a 'normalization effect' due to the harmonization of reporting standards across the newly combined organization. Chile operations face ongoing headwinds fr…Read full documentShow less
Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Achieved record adjusted EBITDA of $1 billion, marking the first time the company has surpassed this milestone in a single quarter. Organic service revenue growth of 5% was the strongest since 2021, driven by disciplined pricing and the 'more-for-more' mobile strategy. The 'pre-to-post' migration strategy remains a primary growth engine, with approximately two-thirds of new postpaid sales coming from existing prepaid customers. Home segment performance was bolstered by exclusive FIFA World Cup broadcasting rights, which accounted for roughly 80% of the segment's 3% growth. The company completed the harmonization of subscriber reporting standards across the organization, resulting in a normalization effect in reported prepaid and Home subscriber figures in Colombia this quarter due to accounting and reporting alignment. The company is progressing with the Colombian integration and applying its playbook to recent acquisitions, which have become equity free cash flow accretive within their first year of ownership. B2B digital services grew 14% year-over-year, reflecting a strategic shift toward high-value cloud, cybersecurity, and managed services beyond basic connectivity. Raised 2026 equity free cash flow guidance from at least $900 million to approximately $1.1 billion based on strong first-half visibility. Improved year-end leverage target to below 2.5x, reflecting confidence in the cash-generating capacity of the expanded portfolio. Anticipate a temporary margin contraction in Ecuador during the second half of 2026 due to incremental marketing investments for the Tigo brand launch. Expect an acceleration in Colombia CapEx to roughly 12% of revenue to support full 5G coverage and the deployment of 1,000 additional sites. Projecting a total of $160 million to $170 million in restructuring charges for the full year, with approximately 50% of the cash impact remaining for the second half. Incurred $35 million in restructuring charges during Q2, primarily associated with the Colombian integration and severance payments. Subscriber figures in Colombia reflect a 'normalization effect' due to the harmonization of reporting standards across the newly combined organization. Chile operations face ongoing headwinds from a highly competitive market characterized by aggressive pricing and elevated churn. Paraguay margins benefited significantly from local currency appreciation, which reduced the dollar-denominated cost of soccer and content rights. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Management cautioned that Q2 was an absolute record and should not be linearly extrapolated for the rest of the year. Expect a lower Q3 due to the timing of interest charges and spectrum payments, followed by a strong Q4. Management views satellite as a complementary product for remote areas rather than a threat to urban fiber or mobile networks. Noted that current satellite technology offers poor indoor coverage and lower throughput compared to 4G and 5G infrastructure. The Board approved an additional interim dividend of $1.50 per share, reflecting a commitment to distribute roughly two-thirds of equity free cash flow. Specific 2027 guidance and dividend recommendations will be issued following Q4 results, maintaining the 150% dividend coverage target. Current record margins of 56.9% were aided by the Guarani reaching an all-time high against the dollar, lowering content costs. While efficiency gains are structural, management remains conservative regarding future currency fluctuations.
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-08-06Millicom International Cellular Q2 Earnings Fall, Revenue Rises
MT Newswires
Millicom International Cellular Q2 Earnings Fall, Revenue Rises
Millicom International Cellular (TIGO) reported Q2 earnings Thursday of $0.65 per diluted share, dow
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-08-06Millicom (Tigo) Q2 2026 Earnings Release
GlobeNewswire
Millicom (Tigo) Q2 2026 Earnings Release
Millicom (Tigo) Q2 2026 Earnings Release Luxembourg, August 6, 2026 – Millicom is pleased to announce its second quarter 2026 results. Please find below the links to the Q2 2026 Earnings Release and IAS 34 Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. Q2 2026 Highlights* Revenue $2.18 billion, up 59.4% year-on-year as reported and 4.3% organically Operating profit $462 million, and Adjusted EBITDA of $1.01 billion, up 58.0% year-on-year Net profit attributable to company owners of $109 million Record equity free cash flow of $327 million, up 50.1% year-on-year Leverage decreased to 2.73x including the acquisitions in Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay $3.00 per share dividend declared in May, with payments to be made quarterly over the next 12 months, Additional interim dividend of $1.50 per share declared on August 5 and payable in two installments in 2027 *See page 12 for a description of non-IFRS measures and for reconciliations to the nearest equivalent IFRS measures.** EFCF excluding proceeds from disposals. Millicom Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Benitez commented: “Millicom is becoming a larger, stronger and more cash generative company. Our strategy is to strengthen our leadership positions in Latin America through disciplined organic growth and selective consolidation, while applying a consistent operating model focused on customer value, efficiency and equity free cash flow. Our second-quarter performance demonstrates that this strategy is working: we are growing the underlying business, integrating our expanded portfolio and strengthening our capacity to create sustainable value for our customers and shareholders. We are also seeing encouraging results from the Millicom playbook in our acquired operations. Ecuador and Uruguay have delivered meaningful improvements in margins and equity free cash flow and are now performing broadly in line with the Millicom average. In Colombia and Chile, the integration and turnaround are progressing well, with early improvements in profitability and cash generation as we approach a more steady state of the operations. We delivered strong second-quarter financial results. Service revenue reached $2.04 billion, while Adjusted EBITDA exceeded $1.01 billion for the first time in Millicom’s history. Equity free cash flow reached a quarterly record of $327 million. Our first-half performance, together with the progr…Read full documentShow less
Millicom (Tigo) Q2 2026 Earnings Release Luxembourg, August 6, 2026 – Millicom is pleased to announce its second quarter 2026 results. Please find below the links to the Q2 2026 Earnings Release and IAS 34 Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. Q2 2026 Highlights* Revenue $2.18 billion, up 59.4% year-on-year as reported and 4.3% organically Operating profit $462 million, and Adjusted EBITDA of $1.01 billion, up 58.0% year-on-year Net profit attributable to company owners of $109 million Record equity free cash flow of $327 million, up 50.1% year-on-year Leverage decreased to 2.73x including the acquisitions in Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay $3.00 per share dividend declared in May, with payments to be made quarterly over the next 12 months, Additional interim dividend of $1.50 per share declared on August 5 and payable in two installments in 2027 *See page 12 for a description of non-IFRS measures and for reconciliations to the nearest equivalent IFRS measures.** EFCF excluding proceeds from disposals. Millicom Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Benitez commented: “Millicom is becoming a larger, stronger and more cash generative company. Our strategy is to strengthen our leadership positions in Latin America through disciplined organic growth and selective consolidation, while applying a consistent operating model focused on customer value, efficiency and equity free cash flow. Our second-quarter performance demonstrates that this strategy is working: we are growing the underlying business, integrating our expanded portfolio and strengthening our capacity to create sustainable value for our customers and shareholders. We are also seeing encouraging results from the Millicom playbook in our acquired operations. Ecuador and Uruguay have delivered meaningful improvements in margins and equity free cash flow and are now performing broadly in line with the Millicom average. In Colombia and Chile, the integration and turnaround are progressing well, with early improvements in profitability and cash generation as we approach a more steady state of the operations. We delivered strong second-quarter financial results. Service revenue reached $2.04 billion, while Adjusted EBITDA exceeded $1.01 billion for the first time in Millicom’s history. Equity free cash flow reached a quarterly record of $327 million. Our first-half performance, together with the progress of our integrations and improved visibility across the portfolio, gives us increased confidence for the remainder of the year. As a result, we are raising our 2026 equity free cash flow guidance to around $1.1 billion, while lowering the year-end leverage target from approximately 2.5x to below 2.5x. Reflecting this stronger performance, Millicom's Board of Directors approved an incremental interim dividend of $1.50 per share, payable in two installments of $0.75 per share in January and April 2027. We remain focused on disciplined execution and believe there is significant additional value to unlock.” 2026 Financial Targets Millicom is raising its full-year 2026 EFCF guidance from at least $900 million to around $1.1 billion, while lowering its year-end leverage target from around 2.5x to below 2.5x. These targets include restructuring costs associated with all acquired businesses. Subsequent Events Interim cash dividend On August 5, 2026, Millicom's Board approved an interim dividend of $1.50 per share. The dividend will be distributed in two equal installments of $0.75 per share, on January 15, 2027 and April 15, 2027. Financing Bolivia: In July 2026, Bolivia entered into five different bank local loans (three with a one-year term and two with a five-year term) with Banco de Credito de Bolivia, Banco Nacional de Bolivia and Banco BISA, adding an aggregate amount of BOB 439.7 million (approximately $44 million). Colombia (Coltel): In July 2026, Coltel repaid approximately $102 million of the outstanding credit facilities denominated in COP and U.S. dollars with Banco de Occidente, Bladex and J.P. Morgan. Q2 2026 Earnings Release IAS 34 Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements Millicom is planning to host a video conference for the global financial community on August 6, 2026, at 08:00 (New York) / 14:00 (Luxembourg) / 13:00 (London). Registration for the interactive event is required at the following link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing details about joining the video conference. Participants who wish to ask a question during the live event must notify the Investor Relations team via email to [email protected] after the start of the event. Participants may also join the conference in listen-only mode by dialing any of the following numbers and entering the Webinar ID: 869 6353 4578 US: +1 929 205 6099 Sweden: +46 850 539 728 UK: +44 330 088 5830 Luxembourg: +352 342 080 9265 Additional international numbers are available at the following link. Accompanying slides and a replay of the event will be available on the Millicom investors website For further information, please contact: About Millicom Millicom (NASDAQ: TIGO) is a leading provider of fixed and mobile telecommunications services in Latin America. Through its TIGO® and Tigo Business® brands, the company provides a wide range of digital services and products, including TIGO Money for mobile financial services, TIGO Sports for local entertainment, TIGO ONEtv for pay TV, high-speed data, voice, and business-to-business solutions such as cloud and security. As of June 30, 2026, Millicom, including its Honduras Joint Venture and Chile associate, employed over 20,000 people and provided mobile and fiber-cable services through its digital highways to more than 69 million customers, with a fiber-cable footprint over 22 million homes passed. Founded in 1990, Millicom International Cellular S.A. is headquartered in Luxembourg with principal executive offices in Doral, Florida. Attachments Millicom - IAS34 - Q2 2026 - Millicom - Earnings Release - Q2 2026 -
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-08-06Millicom International Cellular SA (TIGO) Beats Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
Zacks
Millicom International Cellular SA (TIGO) Beats Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
Millicom International Cellular SA (TIGO) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.64 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.54 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.51 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +18.52%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this company would post earnings of $0.89 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.97, delivering a surprise of +8.99%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times. Millicom International Cellular, which belongs to the Zacks Wireless Non-US industry, posted revenues of $2.18 billion for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.24%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $1.37 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Millicom International Cellular shares have added about 65.6% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 12.8%. While Millicom International Cellular has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Millicom International Cellular was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the…Read full documentShow less
Millicom International Cellular SA (TIGO) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.64 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.54 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.51 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +18.52%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this company would post earnings of $0.89 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.97, delivering a surprise of +8.99%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times. Millicom International Cellular, which belongs to the Zacks Wireless Non-US industry, posted revenues of $2.18 billion for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.24%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $1.37 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Millicom International Cellular shares have added about 65.6% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 12.8%. While Millicom International Cellular has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Millicom International Cellular was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.65 on $2.11 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $1.78 on $8.31 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Wireless Non-US is currently in the top 36% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. Ceragon Networks (CRNT), another stock in the same industry, has yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. The results are expected to be released on August 11. This provider of wireless backhaul services is expected to post break-even quarterly earnings per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -100%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. Ceragon Networks' revenues are expected to be $86.25 million, up 4.9% from the year-ago quarter. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Millicom International Cellular SA (TIGO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Ceragon Networks Ltd. (CRNT) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research
TranscriptFY2026 Q22026-08-06FY2026 Q2 earnings call transcript
Earnings source - 88 paragraphs
FY2026 Q2 earnings call transcript
Hello everyone, welcome to our second quarter 2026 results call. This event is being recorded. Our speakers today will be our CEO, Marcelo Benítez, and Bart Vanhaeren, CFO of the company. The slides for today's presentations are available on our website, along with the earnings release and our financial statements. Please turn to slide two for the Safe Harbor disclosure. We will be making forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties, which could have a material impact on our results. On slide three, we define the non-IFRS metrics that we will be referencing throughout the presentation. You can find the reconciliation table in the back of our earnings release and on our website. With those disclaimers out of the way, let me now turn the call over to our CEO, Marcelo Benítez. Marcelo?
Thank you, Luca, thank you everyone for joining our call today. Before I begin, I want to thank our teams across all markets. These results are a direct reflection of their commitment to our customers and their relentless focus on execution. They are the reason why we're delivering another quarter of strong performance. Last quarter, I spoke about the strength of our operating model and our ability to keep growing while integrating new businesses and absorbing the associated restructuring cost. This quarter reinforces that point. We are executing against the same priorities we've outlined throughout the year: delivering a better customer service, increasing our pull through for more strategy, simplifying the business, improving efficiency, and turning that operational execution into stronger cash flow. Before reviewing the operational highlights, let me provide some context around our mobile and home subscriber performance this quarter.
As part of Coltel integration, we deliberately reduced promotional activity to avoid overlapping commercial offers between the two brands. At the same time, we completed the harmonization of subscriber reporting standards across the organization, improving consistency and transparency. As a result, our reported Prepaid and home subscriber figures in Colombia includes a normalization effect this quarter. This is simply an accounting and reporting alignment. It does not reflect any deterioration in our underlying business. With this work now substantially behind us, we expect subscriber trends to normalize and growth rates to return to more typical levels over the coming quarters. More importantly, the underlying commercial momentum remains very healthy. Our Prepaid to Postpaid strategy continues to deliver excellent results. Excluding M&A, Postpaid net adds increased by 167,000 sequentially, demonstrating the continued strength of our commercial execution.
Home net adds were broadly stable versus the first quarter, reflecting the normalization I just described. Even so, home service revenue delivered another strong quarter. Better pricing execution, combined with the positive impact of the FIFA World Cup broadcasting rights, allowed us to grow revenue despite modest subscriber growth. That's exactly the kind of balance we want to achieve, growing value, not simply volume. At the group level, service revenue reached $2 billion, growing 5% organically year-over-year, our strongest organic growth since 2021. Combined with our continued focus on efficiency, this translated into record adjusted EBITDA of $1 billion. The first time Millicom has surpassed that milestone in a single quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margin remained solid at 46.3%, only slightly below last year's level, despite the restructuring cost associated with the Colombian integration. Most importantly, our operating performance translated into record equity free cash flow of $327 million.
I believe this is one of the most important message for the quarter. These results are not only the contribution from our recent acquisitions, but also the financing cost associated with those transactions. Even after absorbing those costs, our acquisitions are already equity free cash flow accretive within the first year. That is exactly the outcome we expected when we made these investments, and it reflects both the quality of the assets and the discipline of our execution. Given our first half performance, the progress we're making with the Colombian integration, and the visibility we now have for the balance of the year, we are raising our 2026 equity free cash flow guidance from at least $900 million to around $1.1 billion. At the same time, we're improving our year-end leverage target to below 2.5x.
These upgrades reflect our confidence in the cash generating capacity of our expanded portfolio and our ability to continue executing with discipline. Consistent with that confidence, our board has approved an additional interim dividend of $1.50 per share, payable in two equal installments of $0.75 per share in January and April of next year. With that, let me turn to our mobile business. The strength of our commercial strategy is clearly reflected in our mobile results. As we've discussed before, that strategy is built on two simple principles. The first is discipline management of our Prepaid base through our more for more strategy, where we're giving more value, primarily through ledger data bundles, while driving healthy and sustainable ARPU growth. The second is our targeted pre-to-post migration strategy.
Our analytics allowed us to identify the customers who are ready to move to a Postpaid plan, creating value both for the customer and for Millicom. For our customers, the benefit is significantly better experience. On average, they remain connected nearly twice as many days each month after migrating to Postpaid. For us, it strengthens customer loyalty, improves unit economics, and increases lifetime value. This strategy continues to deliver strong results. Our Postpaid customer base has grown by more than 31% over the past year, supported by our expanded perimeter and continued commercial execution. Approximately 2/3 of our new Postpaid sales comes from Prepaid customers migration to higher value plans, demonstrating our ability to monetize our customer base while creating long-term value. Following the Coltel acquisition, conversion rates temporarily softened in the first quarter as we align commercial practices across the combined business.
That process is now largely complete. Conversion rates have returned to levels consistent with our historical performance. The important point is that we are now achieving those same conversion rates across a customer base that is roughly twice the size, giving us a much larger platform for future growth. As a result, strong Postpaid momentum, together with healthy output trends, drove mobile service revenue growth to 6.9% organically year-over-year to $1.2 billion this quarter. We're very pleased with this performance and give us confidence as we move into a second half of the year. With that, let me turn to our home business. Turning to home, we're encouraged by the continued improving of the competitive environment across our markets. Competition is becoming more rational, with less emphasis on aggressive entry-level pricing and greater focus on network quality, higher broadband speeds, and differentiated content.
We believe this is creating a healthier market structure and a more sustainable foundation for long-term growth. Despite the subscriber harmonization actions we discussed earlier, our home customer base continued to grow modestly during the quarter. At the same time, our fixed mobile convergence strategy continued to gain traction, with FMC penetration now approaching 40%. This not only strengthens customer loyalty and lifetime value, but also improves the overall quality of our subscriber base. These commercial trends translated into another solid quarter for the home business. Service revenue grew 3% organically to $513 million, supported by disciplined pricing, high-value broadband offers, continued growth in convergence, and strong customer response to our FIFA World Cup content. We believe we are now seeing the benefits of our strategy we've been executing over the past several quarters.
A more rational competitive environment, continued ARPU expansion, and increasing convergence and creating a strong and more sustainable home business. While there is still more work to do, this quarter represents another important step in the turnaround of the home segment and reinforces our confidence in the path ahead. Let us now discuss the B2B segment. Turning to B2B, the strong momentum we saw in the first quarter continued into the second. Digital services remained one of our fastest-growing businesses, with revenue increasing 14% year-over-year to $120 million. This reflects the continued demand for cloud, cybersecurity, managed services, and other high-value solutions that are becoming an increasingly important part of our B2B portfolio. We are also seeing encouraging performance across all customer segments. In the SME segment, our strategy continues to deliver consistent results.
Simple commercial offers, disciplined channel execution, and greater conversion helped drive revenue growth 8% year-over-year for this segment. In the corporate segment, we continue to benefit from a regional footprint and our ability to deliver integrated cross-border technology solutions for large multinational customers. These remain an attractive market where we can differentiate beyond basic connectivity. We're also seeing good opportunities in the government segment, where our network capabilities and experience managing large mission-critical projects position us well to support the digital transformation of public institutions. As a result, B2B service revenue grew 3.8% year-over-year to $401 million. Overall, we are pleased with the continued evolution of the business. Our strategy of expanding beyond connectivity and increasing the mix of higher value digital services continues to strengthen the quality of our B2B revenue base. With that, let's move to our two most important markets, beginning with Guatemala.
Guatemala delivered another outstanding quarter, and it continues to set the benchmark across our operations. Our Prepaid to Postpaid migration strategy remains a key driver of performance. During the quarter, 86% of our new customers' Postpaid sales come from Prepaid. That's an exceptional conversion rate and a clear demonstration that our commercial strategy continues to resonate with customers. As a result, our Postpaid customer base grew almost 20% year-over-year, combined with healthy ARPU. This translated into mobile service revenue growth of 6.4% to $295 million. Overall, Guatemala delivered its strongest quarterly performance in the last 10 years. Congratulations to Carlos, our General Manager, and to the entire team for another exceptional quarter. Let me now turn to Colombia. This is our first full quarter reporting Coltel under full ownership following the completion of the transaction in April. I'm pleased with the progress we're making.
The underlying commercial performance remains strong. Postpaid customers grew 7.1% organically year-over-year, with nearly two-thirds of new Postpaid sales coming from Prepaid migrations. This continues to strengthen customer loyalty, improve ARPU, and increasing long-term value. In home, our customer base grew 2.4% organically year-over-year. We are also making good progress with convergence. Fixed mobile penetration has reached 44%, reinforcing customer value while creating additional opportunities for cross-selling and long-term value creation. Overall, I'm encouraged by the progress we're making. The integration remains on track, and we're beginning to see the benefits of applying the Millicom playbook to a much larger business. Before I hand the call over to Bart, let me briefly update you on Chile. This was our first quarter of operations, and the team has made an excellent start.
The vast majority of our planned restructuring has been completed during the second quarter, allowing management to shift its focus toward commercial execution and operational improvement. The early results are encouraging. We've already improved adjusted EBITDA sustainability while our EFCF margin increased by 10% on points year-over-year. We are also seeing growing confidence from our banking partners who have been refinancing upcoming maturities and, in some cases, extending additional credit. That said, we remain realistic. Chile continues to be a highly competitive market with aggressive pricing and elevated churn. We've entered challenging markets before, and we know what disciplined execution can achieve. It's still early, but the progress we've made in just a few months reinforces our confidence that we can build a stronger, more profitable, and more sustainable business over time. With that, let me turn the call over to Bart.
Thank you, Marcelo. The second quarter of this year has truly been an exceptional quarter. Service revenue reached $2 billion, increasing 60.1% year-over-year on a reported basis. On an organic basis, service revenue increased a solid 5.4% year-over-year. This is more than twice the growth rate we reported in the second quarter of last year. As Marcelo discussed, this acceleration was supported by our Pre to Postpaid migration strategy, disciplined pricing, and offer management across our business lines. Adjusted EBITDA reached $1 billion for the quarter. On an organic basis, adjusted EBITDA increased 9.1% year-over-year, once again, growing faster than organic service revenue and demonstrating the operating leverage built into our business.
I want to highlight the 58% year-over-year reported EBITDA growth, almost as fast as the reported revenue growth, despite having acquired lower margin businesses and despite having incurred approximately $35 million restructuring charges in Q2. Our strong operating performance drove a record $327 million of equity free cash flow, an increase of more than 50% year-on-year. This means our recent acquisitions are contributing positively to equity free cash flow within their first year of ownership. Achieving that level of accretion so quickly underscores the strength of our M&A execution, the effectiveness of our integration efforts, and our ability to convert acquired earnings into tangible cash flows. The second quarter equity free cash flow benefited from favorable expense timing and working capital movements. Therefore, please remain cautious forecasting the remainder of the year. With that, let's review our performance by country.
Starting for the first time with Colombia, given its increased relevance in our portfolio. We are very pleased with the progress achieved so far. Organic service revenue increased 11% year-on-year to $816 million, as we began applying our commercial strategies across a significantly larger customer base. Importantly, all three business lines, mobile, home, and B2B, contributed to the growth. This broad-based performance is encouraging and demonstrates the commercial opportunity created by the combined operation. Turning to Guatemala, service revenue increased 5.9% year-on-year to $382 million. As Marcelo explained, growth was driven primarily by our Prepaid to Postpaid migration strategy, together with pricing and offer management. Overall, this was a record quarter for one of our strongest operations. In Panama, service revenue grew 3.1% year-over-year to $175 million, marking a return to top-line growth.
As a reminder, first quarter performance was impacted by the temporary suspension of a price increase following regulatory intervention. With the price adjustment reinstated in the second quarter, the business returned to growth, and we remain focused on sustaining this trend. In Paraguay, service revenue increased 3.4% year-on-year to $169 million. Growth was supported by a 10% expansion in our Postpaid customer base, together with a low single-digit increase in mobile ARPU. This combination of customer growth and disciplined monetization supported another healthy quarter. Turning to Ecuador, service revenue was broadly flat year-on-year at $112 million, which means we reversed the service revenue erosion observed under prior ownership and stabilized the business. Note that the second quarter 2025 results are provided on a pro forma basis for comparison purposes only.
In our other markets comprising of Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Bolivia, and Uruguay, service revenue increased 2.8% year-on-year to $398 million. Let's now turn to the profitability of our operations. Starting again with Colombia, our cost-saving initiatives are running ahead of plan, and Coltel's profitability has already moved towards levels comparable with our legacy Tigo UNE operation. Adjusted EBITDA reached $336 million for the quarter, increasing 3.9% year-on-year. This result includes more than $30 million of severance payments executed during the quarter and roughly $100 million year-to-date. Despite these costs, the operation delivered an adjusted EBITDA margin of 39.4%. While there is still work to be completed, the results reinforce our confidence that the integration and efficiency program is progressing very well. Turning to Guatemala, adjusted EBITDA increased 6.3% year-on-year to $245 million.
The adjusted EBITDA margin reached 55.6%, improving by almost one percentage point year-on-year. This expansion was driven mainly by operating leverage, together with the solid service revenue growth I just discussed. In Panama, adjusted EBITDA was broadly stable year-on-year at $92 million. The adjusted EBITDA margin was 50.7%. We remain focused on converting the renewed top-line growth into stronger operating leverage over time. Next, let's turn to Paraguay, which delivered another excellent quarter. Adjusted EBITDA increased almost 17% year-on-year to $100 million. The adjusted EBITDA margin expanded by 6.4 percentage points to a company record of 56.9%. This improvement is a testimony to the team's relentless focus on efficiency, particularly with indirect costs, while also benefiting from FX tailwinds.
I would like to congratulate our General Manager in Paraguay, Roberto, supported by Flor, our new Paraguay CFO that moved from our Guatemalan operation, as well as the entire team for these excellent results. Turning to Ecuador, the Millicom playbook continues to produce solid results. Adjusted EBITDA increased almost 40% year-on-year on a pro forma basis to $58 million. The adjusted EBITDA margin reached 48.9%, an improvement of 15.4 percentage points year-on-year. This represents substantial progress in a relatively short period and is a direct result of the continuous execution of our efficiency initiatives. That said, I want to manage expectation for the second half. We plan to launch the Tigo brand in Ecuador later this year. This will require incremental marketing and promotional investments, and we therefore expect margin to contract a few percentage points during the remainder of 2026.
Adjusted EBITDA in our other markets reached $194 million, increasing 4.7% year-on-year faster than the growth, again demonstrating our operational leverage. The adjusted EBITDA margin was 46.3%. Let's now review the equity free cash flow bridge for the quarter. As discussed, adjusted EBITDA reached $1 billion for the quarter, increasing $369 million year-on-year. Cash CapEx totaled $274 million, up $72 million compared to prior year, and this increase mainly reflects continued investment in our recently acquired businesses, together with higher spending on leased mobile devices under Colombia's customer device leasing program. Spectrum payments were $41 million during the quarter, mainly related to Colombia. Working capital and other contributed $47 million, representing an improvement of $17 million year-on-year, benefiting from payment phasing and improved inventory management. Taxes paid increased $40 million year-on-year, in line with the increased contribution from our acquired businesses.
Finance charges were $131 million, increasing $49 million year-on-year, mainly as a result of the additional financing associated with our acquisitions. Lease payments increased $79 million year-on-year to $161 million. As in the first quarter, the increase was primarily the result of the expansion in our operating perimeter and the impact of Lati tower sale and leaseback transaction last year. Putting all of these factors together, equity free cash flow increased by more than 50% year-on-year to a company record of $327 million. Let's now turn to our net debt and leverage progression. We began the quarter with net debt of $7.6 billion and leverage of 2.76x. Equity free cash flow of $327 million and EBITDA growth reduced leverage by approximately 0.11x. This benefit was largely offset by shareholder distributions during the quarter.
We paid $125 million in ordinary dividends, also $210 million in extraordinary dividends related to last year's Lati tower transaction, for total dividend payments of $335 million. In addition, we made $221 million of M&A related payments, mainly associated with the acquisition of the remaining Coltel stake previously held by La Nación. That does not come with incremental consolidated EBITDA. We also have an increase of net debt that is predominantly related to the appreciation of local currency denominated debt. The key takeaway is that despite the increase in net debt to $8.1 billion, leverage actually declined modestly from 2.76x-2.73x. Better than I expected during our Q1 call, giving us a solid starting point from which to reduce leverage further during the remainder of the year. That brings me to our 2026 financial targets.
When we last spoke, I committed to updating our 2026 guidance once we had greater visibility into the progress of our turnaround initiatives, integration costs, and the performance of the combined businesses. First, based on the strong operating and financial performance achieved during the first half of this year, we are raising our full-year equity free cash flow guidance. We now expect 2026 equity free cash flow of around $1.1 billion, compared with our previous target of at least $900 million. Second, our first half performance strengthens our conviction in achieving our leverage objectives. We continue to expect leverage to improve, now to below 2.5x, a level at which we are comfortable operating the business. This updated guidance reflects the strength of the underlying business, continued progress on integration initiatives, and greater visibility into the cash generating potential of the expanded portfolio.
Our strong performance allowed the board to approve an incremental interim dividend of $1.50 payable in two equal installments in January and April 2027. At the same time, we remain focused on disciplined execution, including the delivery of our integration plans, investment in our networks and prudent management of leverage. With that, let me now open the call for questions. Thank you.
We'll now begin our question-and-answer session. As a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, please let us know by emailing us at [email protected] and we'll add you to the queue. Our first question for the day comes from Andreas Johnson from DNB.
Good morning and good afternoon. I don't know where you are. A very strong result, I must say, so congratulations. I have three questions. First of all, what can you say about phasing of cash flow for the remainder of the year. I think after or in connection to the Q1 conference call, we said that cash flow is mainly generated in Q1-Q4. Now we have a very strong Q2. How should we look at the phasing of the cash flow for the remainder of the year? Secondly, ARPU levels are coming up quite nicely. Do you agree that we could see that as a leading indicator for further continuous service revenue growth going forward, or is there something extraordinary in the ARPU numbers for Q2 that we should be aware of? Thirdly, you managed to keep the improved profitability in the old Millicom countries.
What is the main challenge you see to continue this sustainable improved profitability? Is there a risk that there is a cost discipline fatigue in the organization, as we have had a strong cost discipline for quite some time now? How should we see that? Thanks a lot.
Let me take two and three, Bart, you take the first one. Hello, Andreas. Good to see you. We are here in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, visiting the operations and having this call at the same time. On the ARPU topic, let me just go back over what was the strategy from the beginning. First, we invested in strengthening our networks with a very granular approach. Looking side by side, sector by sector, node by node, and understanding where the untapped demand is. This untapped demand starts in mobile with Prepaid. Our Prepaid customers are just connected 15 days per month, and nobody wants to be connected only 15 days per month. What we are doing is we are extending the days connected, starting in Prepaid with more allowances and more days connected with a slightly higher ticket.
Through a very well-designed and very mature analytics model, we are selecting and pre-approving Prepaid customers that are ready to move to Postpaid. In combination, this is increasing the total ARPU of the base. In home, the challenge is a little bit different, and the result does have a one-off. The challenge in home has to do with stabilizing churn, again, with a very granular investment on the network, and also has to do with calibrating the ARPU in, the new offers are coming with a high ARPU. As I mentioned in the call, we do see good response from the industry from that perspective. Promotional heat and activities are coming a little bit down. That, in combination with low churn, it's creating a new inflection point towards growth. The one-off we have in home has to do with the World Cup rights.
We did have, in almost all our countries, exclusivity on all the games for the World Cup, it was a total success. The revenues coming from the World Cup has to do with selling packages to watch the games, more data packages, more top-ups, more sales in Home, and advertising revenues. You will see a 3% growth in home, but 80% of that growth comes from the World Cup effect. You will see this effect in Q2 and in Q3. 60% of the World Cup effect is in Q2, 40% is in the Q3. That was the first question. The second question was on-
Profitability
No. Okay, fatigue. Well, I would say we are in a very healthy cultural momentum. We did incorporate the efficiency model as a business as usual. We don't see any fatigue. At this time, it's more now an obsession to fight inertia. From the countries we started the purchase order review. As you may understand, at the beginning, there was a lot of pushback from the center, but now that pushback is gone because basically, the operations and the countries, they are already adopting this new criteria on where to put each dollar in OpEx and CapEx. It's part of the business as usual, and we do see the results. Also, it is clear that that is the model we want to follow.
Incremental efficiencies is something that we are looking at using AI tools and automatizing mainly the contacts from the customers and internal operational, heavy transactional operations.
Yeah. On the phasing, Andreas, I think, the equity free cash flow is not made in Q4, Q1, it's more the business is made in Q4, Q1, in the sense that, the entry point customer is the one that will generate 12 months of revenue. Q4, you win them for the entry point, Q1, you keep them, and then the rest of the year. If a customer won in Q4 will add much less to equity free cash flow than one gained in general, right? We do have phasing in the rest of the year. I think, on Spectrum, we have on interest charges, we have a little bit on working capital. We have some phasing in the first half of the year. Our Q2 is an absolute record equity free cash flow for the company. That's why I wanted to be a bit cautious.
Don't just do Q2 with another two quarters in Q3 and Q4. I think it will look a little bit like the first half of the year. I think that's a fair way to look at it for the rest of the year. A lower Q3 and then a strong Q4 to end the year.
Very good. Thanks a lot.
Thank you.
Thank you, Andreas.
Our next question comes from Phani Kanumuri from HSBC.
Hi. Thanks, Marcelo. Thanks, Bart. The first question is on, how you see the competition or disruption from satellite players in the light of SpaceX IPO. Do you see them as complementary? Is there a potential for partnership with them? The second one is on the integration costs. How do you see the phasing of integration costs over the next couple of quarters? Do you stick with your guidance from last quarter that the full-year guidance for Colombia EBITDA margin will be similar to 2025? Thank you.
Thank you, Phani. Good to see you. We'll take the first one, Bart's going to take the second. SpaceX in Starlink solutions in our countries, if you analyze it from the mobile perspective, the benefits and experience is still very limited. Very poor indoor coverage and very low throughput. As you may understand, in our countries, we almost have deployed 4G at 100% of our coverage. In parallel, we are launching new coverage and investing in 5G. If you compare the experience of SpaceX satellite to the phone, compared with 4G and 5G, I think there is a long way for SpaceX to improve their technology. When we go to the fixed business, it is a very good solution for remote areas where we don't have coverage. There we do see SpaceX gaining a small piece of customers.
For example, in Paraguay, there is a lot of cattle. These are very far and in distant places, SpaceX is a great solution for them. For urban areas, it is very difficult, or it is a very, very poor experience compared to fiber still. In a nutshell, we do see as a complement product for our customers, but we don't see as a threat.
Yep. On the restructuring charges, Phani, overall for the group, it's not that we want to lock ourselves in. You see how fast we are restructuring. Every week we find new opportunities, in the operation, it shows in the margin expansion. What I have visibility to today, I would say, that we have roughly restructuring charges for the full-year in between $160 million-$170 million. Right? We already have booked 60% of that, roughly, in H1. On paid basis, we probably already have paid 50/50. 50% in H1, another 50% or less. Roughly $80 million in H1 and another $80 million in H2. Let's say.
Okay. Then on Colombia full-year margin, do we still expect to be in line with FY 2025 as you had indicated in the previous conference call?
Yeah. Roughly.
Okay. Thank you. Thanks, everyone.
Thank you, Phani.
Thank you.
Our next question comes from Gustavo Farias with UBS. Gustavo?
Are you on mute, Gustavo? Yeah.
Yeah.
There we go.
Hi. Thanks for Sorry for the technical issues. Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions. Two questions. First one on CapEx. The numbers came a little bit below of what we expected. If you could comment on the outlook for CapEx ahead, if there's any timing related things to consider. Specifically, about the Colombia CapEx, if this has already reached its run rate. The second question is related to Argentina with new remedies of the Telecom Argentina and Telefónica deal. Regulator requires a third player in the mobile market. Just wondering, does it change anything on your current strategy, or there is nothing to be said here? Thank you.
Well, Gustavo, I will take the first one. Bart, then you take the second one. Relating to CapEx, yes, Gustavo, there is a phasing. We are investing in Colombia with a very aggressive approach. We plan to have full 5G coverage and also additional 1,000 sites to be deployed in the next 12, 18 months. There is going to be an acceleration there, but it's going to be more or less on the rate, where we are very comfortable. Today, you will see more or less 11%, including the new perimeter of CapEx over revenues, and we expect to be full-year around 12%. That's going to be the effect on the second half, and mainly because of Colombia.
Maybe to just add a little bit in terms of numbers. I think on a cash basis, for cash CapEx, we are probably 50% of the year. On a booked basis is indeed what Marcelo said, we're 40% of the year, and then so wrapping up a little bit in the year to go. To your question on Argentina, I think in previous calls we kind of mentioned Argentina is not on the radar for us. Same for Brazil or Mexico. We don't have that on the radar.
All right. Very clear. Thank you.
Thank you, Gustavo
Our next question comes from Gabriel Vaz de Lima from Morgan Stanley.
Hey, everyone. Thanks for the opportunity of asking questions. Congratulations on the results. Just one question on my end. Just wanted to get your thoughts on how competition has been in Chile. We've seen some movements on front book prices on the last few weeks. Just wanted to get your thoughts on how you're seeing the market.
Sure. Thank you, Gabriel. Let me step back on Chile. First, we saw this as an opportunity to apply our playbook into a Telefónica operation. That playbook starts with efficiencies. That first phase is doing very well. The execution is going as planned. Just to give you an example, if you compare the last quarter, the EFCF was only 2% over revenues, and this quarter we are talking about 13% over revenue. The first chapter of our playbook is producing immediate results. When it has to do with competition, we recognize that it's a very tough market. It's a very fragmented market, very low ARPUs and strong promotional activities from all the players.
Nevertheless, we did saw a movement in pricing two weeks ago, as you mentioned, Gabriel, and we see this as a very positive sign from the industry that, of course, we look at it with good eyes because it is absolutely key to make the investments in the long term sustainable for all the operators. Our primary focus is what is under our control. That is, to end the phase I that has to do with efficiency focus and simplification of how we operate in Chile.
Thank you very much.
Our next question comes from Livea Mizobata from JPMorgan.
Hi, everyone. Sorry, I was not hearing at first. Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to ask questions. I have two. First, I would like to elaborate a little bit on the margin outlook for Colombia. Could you provide an update on the outlook for 2026 and also for the long-term? The second one is regarding Paraguay. You mentioned in your release phasing effect impacting margins. Can you elaborate a little bit, what was that? What was the driver and what we can expect on this operation? Thank you.
On the Colombia margin, Q2 is 39.4%. I think we have a very good and solid second quarter. We have year-on-year revenue growth organically 11%, so that drives operational efficiencies. We have some tailwinds from currency. I think all to say we want to still be a little bit conservative for the year to go. We also have some rebranding efforts and things like this. There will be a little bit of contraction from the additional cost, but on the same time, we have some savings from run rate ERC costs, so employee-related costs and stuff like this. I don't think there will be a dramatic shift in the margin for the full-year. As we look at it month to month, we may start with some contraction and then end the year strongly. I wouldn't expect it.
It's also currency driven, so no major changes. Second question, what?
Paraguay. It's Paraguay.
On the phasing effect.
The peak of Q2.
Yeah. Paraguay, I think so again, we are growing nicely. It's a bit the same story. We're growing nicely. The team is putting a ton of efforts on efficiencies, but the underlying element is nice growth comes with operational leverage, hence margin expansion and good equity free cash flow. If you look at the year to go, the risk is always currency. Paraguay, Colombia, Bolivia, those are the three countries where I always want to be a little bit conservative as currencies affect our equity free cash flow generation. Now, we did localize a lot of our P&L, so meaning we transferred everything to local currencies. We're hedging debt by occurring local currency debt and accepting a little bit of a higher interest rate.
We did all the work there over the last couple of years, but still strong currency, we'll get more equity free cash flow.
May I make just one follow-up question since we are talking about free cash flow?
Sure.
You're generating a ton of cash. Do you have any visibility on what to do in 2027 with the amount of cash that you're generating? Any updates on your capital allocation strategy, if you have room to increase dividends eventually? What is the outlook here?
Yeah. We just announced additional dividends, $1.5, payable in two equal installments in January and April. If you think about it, we raised our guidance of equity free cash flow to $1.1. Historically, I always said, "Listen, I like to distribute 2/3.
Of our equity free cash flow. Another way to see that is having 150% coverage of your dividends. So far, the board has followed that recommendation and the AGM as well. Now that we are getting to $1.1 billion, 2/3, $750 million, 169 million shares, you get to the $4.5 that we will now distribute from AGM to AGM. On the back of Q4, we will issue new guidance for 2027. It will be the privilege of the board to recommend to the AGM a dividend policy for 2027. If you look at me, Bart, recommendation, that will be again 2/3 of the equity free cash flow that we will guide on the back of Q4 results.
Perfect. Thank you very much for the answer. It's very clear.
Thank you.
Q.
Our next question comes from Marcelo Santos from JPMorgan. Marcelo?
Hi. Actually, I'm together with Livea here, but what I would just double down a bit is in the margin part of Paraguay, you mentioned phasing effects on the margin when you discussed the P&L. At least that's what I understood from reading the release. Was there anything that was unusual about the margin Paraguay that should revert in the coming quarters, or is that Paraguay margin sustainable? That's what we wanted to know about Paraguay.
I think what is really outstanding is the currency appreciation, Marcelo. Even though we did lots of efforts to localize all the costs, we do have heavy soccer rights, local soccer rights, and also content rights, that a lot of them are still in dollars. The more the guaraní appreciates, the lower the cost is in U.S. dollars. That's more or less what's having an inorganic impact in Q2. Of course, we are not experts, even if we tried to predict the currency movements in the future. It is at an all-time low, the dollar compared to the guaraní.
Okay. Pretty clear. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Marcelo. This was our last question for today and concludes our question-and-answer session.
Thank you very much, everyone.
Thank you.
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-07-27Millicom (Tigo) notice of second quarter 2026 results and video conference
GlobeNewswire
Millicom (Tigo) notice of second quarter 2026 results and video conference
Millicom (Tigo) notice of second quarter 2026 results and video conference Luxembourg, July 27, 2026 – Millicom (NASDAQ: TIGO) expects to announce its second quarter 2026 results on August 6, 2026, via a press release. Millicom is planning to host a video conference for the global financial community on August 6, 2026, at 08:00 (New York) / 14:00 (Luxembourg) / 13:00 (London). Registration for the interactive event is required at the following link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing details about joining the video conference. Participants who wish to ask a question during the live event must notify the Investor Relations team via email to [email protected] after the start of the event. Participants may also join the conference in listen-only mode by dialing any of the following numbers and entering the Webinar ID: 869 6353 4578 US: +1 929 205 6099 Sweden: +46 850 539 728 UK: +44 330 088 5830 Luxembourg: +352 342 080 9265 Additional international numbers are available at the following link. Accompanying slides and a replay of the event will be available on the Millicom investors website. For further information, please contact: About Millicom Millicom (NASDAQ: TIGO) is a leading provider of fixed and mobile telecommunications services in Latin America. Through its TIGO® and Tigo Business® brands, the company provides a wide range of digital services and products, including TIGO Money for mobile financial services, TIGO Sports for local entertainment, TIGO ONEtv for pay TV, high-speed data, voice, and business-to-business solutions such as cloud and security. As of June 30, 2026, Millicom, including its Honduras Joint Venture and Chile associate, employed over 20,000 people and provided mobile and fiber-cable services through its digital highways to more than 69 million customers, with a fiber-cable footprint over 22 million homes passed. Founded in 1990, Millicom International Cellular S.A. is headquartered in Luxembourg with principal executive offices in Doral, Florida.
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-20Results of the Millicom (Tigo) AGM held today
GlobeNewswire
Results of the Millicom (Tigo) AGM held today
Results of the Millicom (Tigo) AGM held today Luxembourg, May 20, 2026 – Millicom International Cellular S.A. (“Millicom”) held its Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) of shareholders today. All of the AGM resolutions proposed by the Board of Directors were adopted by Millicom’s shareholders. The AGM set the number of directors at eight and re-elected María Teresa Arnal, Bruce Churchill, Blanca Treviño de Vega, Jules Niel, Pierre-Emmanuel Durand, Maxime Lombardini, Justine Dimovic, and Pierre Alain Allemand as Directors. Maxime Lombardini was re-elected as Chair of the Board of Directors. All other resolutions set out in the convening notice for the AGM were also duly passed, including approval of: (i) The annual accounts and the consolidated accounts for the year ended December 31, 2025. (ii) The allocation of the results of the year ended December 31, 2025, to the unappropriated net profits to be carried forward; and a dividend distribution of USD 3 per share to be paid in four equal installments on or around July 15, 2026, October 15, 2026, January 15, 2027, and April 15, 2027. For more information regarding the dividend distribution, please refer to the convening notice published as Press release and available on the Millicom website. (iii) The discharge of all the current and former Directors of Millicom who served at any point in time during the financial year ended December 31, 2025, for the performance of their mandates. (iv) The re-election of KPMG as the external auditor of Millicom. (v) The remuneration to the Board and external auditor. (vii) The Share Repurchase Plan. The minutes of the AGM will be published as soon as these are available on the Millicom website: https://www.millicom.com/our-company/corporate-governance/shareholder-meetings/ -END- For further information, please contact: About MillicomMillicom (NASDAQ: TIGO) is a leading provider of fixed and mobile telecommunications services in Latin America. Through its TIGO® and Tigo Business® brands, the company provides a wide range of digital services and products, including TIGO Money for mobile financial services, TIGO Sports for local entertainment, TIGO ONEtv for pay TV, high-speed data, voice, and business-to-business solutions such as cloud and security. As of March 31, 2026, Millicom, including its Honduras Joint Venture and Chile associate, employed over 20,000 people and provided mobi…Read full documentShow less
Results of the Millicom (Tigo) AGM held today Luxembourg, May 20, 2026 – Millicom International Cellular S.A. (“Millicom”) held its Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) of shareholders today. All of the AGM resolutions proposed by the Board of Directors were adopted by Millicom’s shareholders. The AGM set the number of directors at eight and re-elected María Teresa Arnal, Bruce Churchill, Blanca Treviño de Vega, Jules Niel, Pierre-Emmanuel Durand, Maxime Lombardini, Justine Dimovic, and Pierre Alain Allemand as Directors. Maxime Lombardini was re-elected as Chair of the Board of Directors. All other resolutions set out in the convening notice for the AGM were also duly passed, including approval of: (i) The annual accounts and the consolidated accounts for the year ended December 31, 2025. (ii) The allocation of the results of the year ended December 31, 2025, to the unappropriated net profits to be carried forward; and a dividend distribution of USD 3 per share to be paid in four equal installments on or around July 15, 2026, October 15, 2026, January 15, 2027, and April 15, 2027. For more information regarding the dividend distribution, please refer to the convening notice published as Press release and available on the Millicom website. (iii) The discharge of all the current and former Directors of Millicom who served at any point in time during the financial year ended December 31, 2025, for the performance of their mandates. (iv) The re-election of KPMG as the external auditor of Millicom. (v) The remuneration to the Board and external auditor. (vii) The Share Repurchase Plan. The minutes of the AGM will be published as soon as these are available on the Millicom website: https://www.millicom.com/our-company/corporate-governance/shareholder-meetings/ -END- For further information, please contact: About MillicomMillicom (NASDAQ: TIGO) is a leading provider of fixed and mobile telecommunications services in Latin America. Through its TIGO® and Tigo Business® brands, the company provides a wide range of digital services and products, including TIGO Money for mobile financial services, TIGO Sports for local entertainment, TIGO ONEtv for pay TV, high-speed data, voice, and business-to-business solutions such as cloud and security. As of March 31, 2026, Millicom, including its Honduras Joint Venture and Chile associate, employed over 20,000 people and provided mobile and fiber-cable services through its digital highways to more than 69 million customers, with a fiber-cable footprint over 22 million homes passed. Founded in 1990, Millicom International Cellular S.A. is headquartered in Luxembourg with principal executive offices in Doral, Florida.
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-13Millicom Intl Cellular Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Benzinga
Millicom Intl Cellular Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Millicom Intl Cellular (NASDAQ:TIGO) released first-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Tuesday. Read the complete transcript below. Benzinga APIs provide real-time access to earnings call transcripts and financial data. Visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/ to learn more. View the webcast at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4uPQQ9vGQaqXd2H_7iVlYA#/registration Millicom International Cellular SA reported a strong start to 2026 with service revenue reaching $1.9 billion, a 45% year-on-year increase, driven by acquisitions and organic growth. Postpaid net additions were $5.6 million, with organic service revenue growth at 4.9% year-over-year, indicating continued momentum and a healthy customer base. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $857 million with a margin of 43.2%, despite integration and restructuring charges, and equity free cash flow improved by $48 million year-over-year to $225 million. The company completed significant acquisitions in Colombia, including EPM and Telefonica's stakes, and is applying its operational playbook in Chile following the acquisition of Telefonica Chile. Millicom's strategy focuses on pre to postpaid migration, cost efficiencies, and network improvements, with strong performance noted in Guatemala and a positive outlook in Colombia and Chile. Management highlighted a successful integration in Ecuador and Uruguay, supporting adjusted EBITDA expansion and cash flow improvements, with ongoing initiatives to improve margins. The company expressed optimism about its strategic initiatives, particularly in Colombia and Chile, expecting them to contribute positively to future financial performance. OPERATOR Hello everyone and welcome to our first quarter 2026 results call. This event is being recorded. Our speakers today will be our CEO Marcelo Benitez and Bart Van Areen, CFO of the company. The slides for today's presentations are available on our website along with the earnings release and our financial statements. Now please turn to Slide 2 for the safe harbor disclosure. We will be making forward looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties which could have a material impact on our results on slide 3. We define the non IFRS metrics that we will be referencing throughout this presentation and you can find reconciliation tables in the back of our earnings release and on our website. With…Read full documentShow less
Millicom Intl Cellular (NASDAQ:TIGO) released first-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Tuesday. Read the complete transcript below. Benzinga APIs provide real-time access to earnings call transcripts and financial data. Visit https://www.benzinga.com/apis/ to learn more. View the webcast at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4uPQQ9vGQaqXd2H_7iVlYA#/registration Millicom International Cellular SA reported a strong start to 2026 with service revenue reaching $1.9 billion, a 45% year-on-year increase, driven by acquisitions and organic growth. Postpaid net additions were $5.6 million, with organic service revenue growth at 4.9% year-over-year, indicating continued momentum and a healthy customer base. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $857 million with a margin of 43.2%, despite integration and restructuring charges, and equity free cash flow improved by $48 million year-over-year to $225 million. The company completed significant acquisitions in Colombia, including EPM and Telefonica's stakes, and is applying its operational playbook in Chile following the acquisition of Telefonica Chile. Millicom's strategy focuses on pre to postpaid migration, cost efficiencies, and network improvements, with strong performance noted in Guatemala and a positive outlook in Colombia and Chile. Management highlighted a successful integration in Ecuador and Uruguay, supporting adjusted EBITDA expansion and cash flow improvements, with ongoing initiatives to improve margins. The company expressed optimism about its strategic initiatives, particularly in Colombia and Chile, expecting them to contribute positively to future financial performance. OPERATOR Hello everyone and welcome to our first quarter 2026 results call. This event is being recorded. Our speakers today will be our CEO Marcelo Benitez and Bart Van Areen, CFO of the company. The slides for today's presentations are available on our website along with the earnings release and our financial statements. Now please turn to Slide 2 for the safe harbor disclosure. We will be making forward looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties which could have a material impact on our results on slide 3. We define the non IFRS metrics that we will be referencing throughout this presentation and you can find reconciliation tables in the back of our earnings release and on our website. With those disclaimers out of the way, let me now turn the call over to our CEO Marcelo Benitez. Marcelo Benitez (Chief Executive Officer) Marcelo thank you Luca and thank you everyone for joining our call today. We are off to a solid start in 2026, both operationally and from a financial perspective. From an operational standpoint, postpaid net additions amounted to $5.6 million while home net adds amounted to $1.5 million. These significant increases reflect the relevance of the Colombia acquisition and the opportunity that lies ahead. Importantly, even excluding inorganic growth, postpaid net additions amounted to 250,000 and home net additions amounted to 46,000. This is a testament of the health of our underlying business and the strength of our customer value proposition. From the financial perspective, organic service revenue growth was a robust 4.9% year over year. This not only represents a solid continuation of the momentum achieved in our seasonally strong fourth quarter in 2025, but also reinforces the expectation of our top line acceleration throughout 2026. The quarter ranks among one of the strongest growth performances in recent history. As a result, total service revenue for the quarter reached $1.9 billion. This robust top line performance, combined with our tireless focus on cost efficiencies, delivered expanding operating leverage. As a result, adjusted EBITDA in The quarter totaled 857 million, representing a margin of 43.2%. This is a very solid outcome, particularly as it already reflects the impact of integration and restructuring charges related to the Coltel acquisition. Excluding Coltel, the adjusted EBITDA margin would have reached 47.9%. Our relentless focus on efficiencies also improved equity free cash flow by 48 million year over year, reaching a strong 225 million for the quarter. This is a robust entry point for the year, especially when considering that EFCF excluding LATAM transaction would have increased 90 million year over year. As we mentioned in our fourth quarter call. We acquired Telefónica Chile together with NJJ and we have started to apply the Millicom International Cellular playbook in that market. During the quarter, we also took important steps to strengthen our position in Colombia. We completed the purchase of EPM, 50% ownership stake in Tigo UnE and Telefónica's 2/3 stake in Coltel. Since we acquired the majority ownership of Coltel at the beginning of the quarter, we are already fully consolidating Coltel's performance in our results. Importantly, we finalized the transaction and acquired the remaining stake in Coltel from Lanacion just two weeks ago. By unifying these operations, we are creating the resilience and the scale that needed to move faster, invest more effectively and ensure that our infrastructure supports the long term sustainable development of the country. I will come back to both Colombia and Chile later in the call. Now let's turn to our mobile business performance on slide number six. Our mobile business continued to perform very well in the quarter. Underlying customer growth was 4% year on year, with postpaid customer increasing 25% and prepaid customers growth largely flat due to our pre to post migration efforts, seasonal effects and customer base cleanup initiatives including acquisitions. Reported growth was 38% reflecting the addition of Coltel. In Colombia, the customer base is steadily migrating toward postpay which now comprises roughly and 29% of our mobile customers, highlighting the substantial opportunity ahead to continue executing our pre to post migration strategy. In the center of this slide you can see the progress we are making on set Strategy. Today, almost 7 out of every 10 postpaid sales are migration sales, an increase of over 10% points year on year. This reflects the strong execution of our commercial teams and the attractive value proposition we are offering to our customers. Bringing all this together, mobile Service revenue totaled 1.1 billion, including 120 million contributions from two months of operation in Coltel. Excluding inorganic growth, mobile service revenue grew 7% or 63 million year on year. This represents a clear acceleration over previous quarter and shows that our commercial strategy continues to gain traction. Now let's turn to our home business on slide number seven. Our efforts to provide the best network experience and higher speeds continues to resonate with customers. Our home customer base expanded 4.6% organically year on year, reaching 4.2 million customers. This growth was mostly driven by broadband only customers which increased 5% year on year. Here too, the recent Coltel acquisition meaningfully increases our customer base, adding 1.5 million customers, reaching a total of 5.7 million customers. More importantly, the fixed Networks are highly complementary. Tigo is comparatively stronger in managing, whereas colortel is more dominant in Bogota. We have also made significant progress in fixed mobile convergence. Almost 36% of our customer base now have both fixed and at least one mobile line with us. This is important for two reasons. First, it shows that our convergent offer is compelling for customers and second, it materially improves the customer Lifetime value as churn for converging customers is almost 50% lower than for non convergent customers. We are very pleased with this progress and we will continue working to expand our convergent customer base. As a result, home service revenues continue its recovery trend reaching 374 million flat year on year. On an organic basis. We remain committed to building the right foundation to return this business to positive revenue growth in the near future. Now let's turn to B2B on slide number eight. Our B2B business continues to play an important role in our growth strategy. Digital service revenue, which increased almost 19% year over year, continues to be a key growth driver, supported mainly by strong demand for cybersecurity and cloud solutions. Both of these categories grew more than 20% year over year, reflecting the continued need from businesses and governments for a secure, reliable and scalable digital infrastructure. At the Same time, total B2B revenue reached 306 million for the quarter. Excluding Coltel, growth was driven primarily by the entrepreneur customer segment where the customer base increased more than 13% year over year. This expansion reflects the strength of our convergent fixed mobile offering which provides small businesses with a simple, reliable and convenient connectivity solution. Importantly, customer loyalty remains high, supported by the quality of our network, the value of our plans and the improvement that we have made in our customer service channels. Overall, B2B remains a strong platform for growth. Next, I would like to discuss our operation in Guatemala. Guatemala continues to deliver strong results. Our pre to post conversion strategy remains an important driver for growth. Postpaid customer growth was 20% year on year, reaching 1.5 million customers at quarter end. Thanks to our targeted sales offers, we continue to make progress on pre to post migration. More than 85% of our new sales in postpay are coming from our existing prepaid base. This strategy improves ARPU per customer and materially enhanced customer lifetime value. All in all, Guatemala remains a strong market for us with mobile revenues expanding 6.6% year on year, reaching 288 million for the quarter. Let's now turn to Slide 10 to review our performance in Colombia. We are very pleased with organic performance in Colombia. Postpaid customers increased almost 9% year on year. This combined with our streamlined commercial offering and our simple, easy to understand more for more pricing strategy allowed us to increase mobile ARPU 4.4% year over year. Importantly, with the Coltel acquisition We increased by 42% our prepay base. This creates a meaningful opportunity to apply our pre to post migration Strategy which increased 15 percentage points over the last 12 months to a much larger customer base. Home also continues on the positive trend we have now been seeing for the several quarters. Organic customer growth reached 8.3% year on year bringing Tigo Une base to 1.7 million customers. We also delivered improvements in fixed mobile penetration which reached 37.1%. And at the quarter end, as our most recent commercial efforts continue to resonate with customers. We are very pleased with this addition of Coltel's fiber network to our portfolio which added another 1.5 million customers to our client base which reached 3.2 million. We are particularly excited about this addition because of the complementary nature of the network. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, it strengthened our position in key urban areas and creates significant opportunities for convergence, cross selling and more efficient network investment. I would now like to discuss our vision for the integration in Colombia and the potential we see in the market. Since obtaining operational control, we have been working with urgency and discipline to ensure a smooth transition and rapid turnaround. Our integration plan is based on three key pillars. The first pillar is a reset of our cost base. This includes our rigorous cash management, a supplier payment program, debt renegotiation and liability management to align with the overall millicom capital structure. As part of our OPEX efficiency program, we have identified more than 100 million in expected savings to be achieved in year one. These opportunities include contract renegotiation, company rightsizing and sponsorship rationalization. The second pillar is network improvement. We are moving on two strategic fronts. First, we are improving the quality of our network, planning to increase four times our 5G coverage in 2026 and to add more than 1,000 new sites during the next 24 months. Second, we are focused to efficiently improve our network operating model. The objective here is to reduce complexity, improve execution and create a more efficient and scalable platform. The third pillar is commercial uplift. This includes simplification of commercial offers with a clear focus on profitability, accelerating pre to post migration and supporting ARPU improvement. It also includes increasing cross sell opportunities across complementary fixed networks which should help us drive high fixed mobile convergence. We have defined clear milestones together with the team in Colombia and we are already seeing encouraging early results. We are excited about the road ahead in Colombia. We believe this transaction gives us the scale, network, asset and customer base needed to create a stronger, more sustainable business in one of our most important markets. But this is not just theory. We have already put this approach in play in Ecuador and Uruguay and are seeing great results. On slide 12 you can see the tangible results of applying the Millicom International Cellular playbook in Ecuador and Uruguay. We are pleased with the progress we have made in both countries. In a short period of time, adjusted EBITDA expanded meaningfully reflecting the disciplined execution of our efficiency program. Importantly, both Ecuador and Uruguay are already operating above or in line with the Milligan average adjusted EBITDA margin. In practical terms, this means these businesses have quickly moved into what we would consider business as usual performance within our operating model. We also saw a material uplift in equity free cash flow in both countries. In Ecuador specifically, the improvement was offset by a 70 million payment related to spectrum in 700 MHz and 3.5 GHz bands which supports the long term quality and capacity of our network and comes up for renewal in 2038. Overall, the results achieved so far are encouraging. At the same time, we continue to fine tune our operations in both markets with a clear focus on driving sustainable margin expansion and stronger cash flow generation over time. Before turning the call over to bart, I want to spend a moment updating you on our operations in Chile. As you will recall, we acquired Telefónica operations in Chile jointly with NJJ on February 10th. Since then we have moved quickly. We appointed a new General Manager, a new CFO and a new cto. Within the first two weeks, the new leadership team began applying the Millicom International Cellular playbook. This includes a significant organization restructuring with an approximately 30% headcount reduction. We also took initial steps to improve the capital structure including 85 million debt reduction which lowered leverage by approximately 0.4 times. We launched our Mobile Network Enhancement Plan by optimizing the frequency layers, delivering rapid improvements in coverage and and service quality. Importantly, we have also identified key regional white spaces and we are committed to increasing our physical retail presence in those areas. Taken together, we are already seeing promising results from our turnaround plan. In the first two months, the business generated positive equity free cash flow before restructuring charges. We are therefore optimistic that Chile will meet its full year target of being neutral to equity from free cash flow. With that, let me turn the call over to BART who will walk you through our financial performance. Bart Van Areen (Chief Financial Officer) Thank you Marcelo. Before we dive into the numbers, just a heads up that this quarter is a bit more complex to read given the multiple acquisitions we've completed over the past six months. So please bear with me as I walk you through the results. With that out of the way, let's now look at our financial performance for the quarter. Service revenue increased 45% year on year to nearly 1.9 billion, benefiting from the consolidation of two months of operations of Coltel and our acquisitions in Ecuador and Uruguay, as well as a year on year increase across our business lines. Let me split this out for you. Coltel contributed approximately 243 million to service revenue in the quarter as shown on this slide. Excluding this inorganic contribution, service revenue would have increased 4.9% year on year. As a reminder, we are including Ecuador and Uruguay in both periods for purposes of organic growth. If we would exclude all M&A that we did, including the MFS business of Paraguay that is now recorded as an asset held for sale, that parameter grew a staggering 13%, continuing the trend we saw last year. Reported adjusted EBITDA reached 857 million for the quarter, increasing 35.5% year on year, with Coltel contributing 33 million. Organic adjusted EBITDA growth was 9.6%. All that translates to an adjusted EBITDA margin of 43.2%, a robust result particularly given that we incurred nearly 70 million in restructuring charges during the quarter, most of which related to a voluntary leave plan in Colombia. Excluding Coltel, adjusted EBITDA margin would have reached 47.9%. We are very pleased with the performance across the region thanks to our focus on sustainable margin improvement across all our business units and all our countries. But also here benefiting from FX tailwinds, equity free cash flow hits a new Millicom International Cellular first quarter record of 225 million. I remember two years ago when I had to report to you the first positive Q1 of Millicom International Cellular with just 1 million and actually that included some M&A. As we look at the year on year increase and exclude last year's one time asset sale proceeds, equity free cash flow increased by 66% or $90 million. This is a strong result, particularly given the increase in lease obligation following our infrastructure sale and incremental spectrum payments during the quarter, notably in Ecuador. Let's now review our performance country by country on slide 16. Starting with Guatemala. Service revenue reached 370 million, increasing 5.5% year on year. Growth was mainly driven by our pre to postpaid conversion strategy together with the price increase implemented in February and March which supported the ARPU improvement that Marcelo mentioned earlier. In Colombia, Service revenue reached 653 million, with Coltel contributing approximately 243 million. As mentioned earlier, adjusting for this inorganic contribution, Service revenue increased 8.4% year on year. Growth was driven by price increases in our B2C and home businesses as well as cybersecurity services provided to the government which Marcelo discussed earlier. In Panama, service revenue was flat year on year at 172 million. For the quarter, growth was slower than expected, but we remain optimistic that the top line momentum will improve. In Paraguay, service revenue increased a robust 4.9% year on year to 158 million. As mentioned before, our Paraguay and MFS business is now recorded as an asset held for sale and excluded from both reporting periods. Next, I would like to review Ecuador for the first time since our acquisition of Telefónica's operations in the fourth quarter of 2025. Please note that we are providing 2025 results as a reference point only. Service revenue reached 110 million, increasing about a percent compared to last year. We have reverted last year's negative revenue trend under former ownership and are convinced that our disciplined approach positions the business for more sustainable and higher growth over the medium term. Service revenue in our other markets, which now comprises El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Bolivia and Uruguay, increased 4.8% to 402 million. This was mainly due to robust top line growth in Nicaragua and Uruguay. Let's now move to our adjusted EBITDA performance. In Guatemala, adjusted EBITDA increased 6% year on year to 237 million, implying strong adjusted EBITDA margin of 55.4%. This was driven by service revenue expansion and continuous operating leverage. For Colombia, adjusted EBITDA reached 205 million with Coltel contributing 33 million. For the two months under our ownership, adjusted EBITDA margin was 30%, which includes 65 million of restructuring charges. When excluding Coltel, Colombia grew adjusted EBITDA 13.7%, reaching an adjusted EBITDA margin of 41%. Allow me a little sidestep here. Despite it being early days, we feel very positive about our turnaround of Coltel. As I mentioned last quarter, prior to the acquisition, we were thinking of Coltel as a risk factor and we're taking into consideration a possible negative equity free cash flow. But at this stage we believe it will be already a net contributor, fully offsetting the aforementioned restructuring charges as well as the acquisition financing costs. In Panama, adjusted EBITDA declined slightly to 91 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 50.7%. Turning to Paraguay, adjusted EBITDA increased 15% year on year to 92 million, delivering a record adjusted EBITDA margin of 56.3%. This growth came from the team's continued focus on operational efficiencies, some phasing and others so well deserved. Congratulations to our Paraguayan General Manager Roberto and our newly internally promoted CFO floor. Besides the stellar performance, we also benefited from FX in Paraguay, increasing the year on year growth of reported adjusted EBITDA to almost 39%. Turning to Ecuador, we are pleased with the initial performance. Our priority has been to stabilize the operation and expand margins sustainably. Adjusted EBITDA totaled 56 million in the quarter, corresponding to an adjusted EBITDA margin of 48.3%. In line with what I signaled to you already during our Q4 call, this represents a margin uplift of about 13% compared with Ecuador's reported profitability for 2025. I'm intentionally referring to a full year number here because last year under former ownership, Ecuador had an exceptionally high margin from one offs in the first quarter. So here as well, I would like to congratulate our General Manager Bobby and our initial CFO Paul leading the integration, who has now been succeeded by an internally promoted CFO, Fernanda. Congratulations. We are encouraged by the results achieved and continue to fine tune the operation to deliver meaningful and sustainable margin expansion over the coming quarters. Just to manage expectations, later in the year we will be rebranding so there will be some margin effects during the time. For one off marketing expenses, adjusted EBITDA in our other markets reached 202 million, increasing 11.4% year on year with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 47.7%. These robust results were particularly driven by Bolivia where continued cost focus and more stable effects supported margin expansion before discussing equity free cash flow, I also want to echo Marcelo's comments on Chile. We are pleased with the initial results from our joint operation with NJJ. The Chilean business generated approximately $200 million of revenues in the first two months of ownership and delivered positive equity free cash flow. This is a tremendous result for an operation which was losing $500,000 per day when we were handed the keys. I initially said we were looking at Chile as a calculated bet, entering the market with a low chip purchase option. We now see the operation delivering positive equity free cash flow already in year one. Despite the turnaround costs like severance and significant investments into the network as well as the retail footprint. This is a good start and we believe the business is moving in the right direction. Let's now turn to Slide 18 to walk through Equity Free Cash Flow for the quarter as we have already discussed, adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was 857 million up 221 million year on year. Despite the restructuring charges in quartet cash, capex was 221 million up 107 million year on year. This was mainly due to the 42 million one time impact related to last year's LATI sale in Nicaragua which was accounted as negative CAPEX considering an asset sale and increased CAPEX execution in Colombia and Bolivia as well as incremental capex related to our inorganic growth projects. A nice way of saying we are investing in the networks of the acquired businesses. Spectrum paid was 99 million, increasing 63 million year on year. This increase was mainly related to $70 million of spectrum payments in Ecuador. As Marcelo already mentioned, changes in working capital and other was negative 27 million for the quarter. This is common in the first quarter when working capital is usually a drag on cash flow due to the timing of certain payments, fees, licenses and employee bonuses. That said, working capital improved by 49 million year on year mostly due to payments phasing and improved collections. Taxes paid were 53 million representing a year on year reduction of 13 million. This was mainly because prior year taxes were elevated by one off incremental taxes on gains from infrastructure. Since finance charges were 126 million increasing 19 million year on year mainly due to incremental charges related to acquisition financing. Lease payments increased 58 million year on year to 140 million consistent with last year's tower sale which added approximately 22 million as well as our inorganic growth which contributed another 36 million leases. Dura's repatriation was 34 million for the quarter, improving 11 million year on year. As a result of these factors, equity free cash flow was a record 225 million for the first quarter of Medicom. Let me now briefly walk you through our net debt bridge on Slide 19. As just discussed, equity free cash flow was $225 million for the quarter. The opening balance sheet of Coltel added approximately $1.5 billion of net debt, increasing leverage by 0.6. Disclaimer: This transcript is provided for informational purposes only. While we strive for accuracy, there may be errors or omissions in this automated transcription. For official company statements and financial information, please refer to the company's SEC filings and official press releases. Corporate participants' and analysts' statements reflect their views as of the date of this call and are subject to change without notice. Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga: MILLICOM INTL CELLULAR (TIGO): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Millicom Intl Cellular Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript originally appeared on Benzinga.com © 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-12Millicom International Cellular Q1 Earnings Call Highlights
MarketBeat
Millicom International Cellular Q1 Earnings Call Highlights
Interested in Millicom International Cellular SA? Here are five stocks we like better. Millicom posted a strong first quarter, with organic service revenue up 4.9% year over year, total service revenue near $1.9 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $857 million. Equity free cash flow also hit a first-quarter record of $225 million. Colombia was the main growth driver and integration focus after Millicom completed major acquisitions there and fully consolidated Coltel. Management expects more than $100 million in first-year cost savings and sees Colombia’s roughly 8% top-line growth as sustainable in 2026. The company kept its full-year guidance unchanged, targeting at least $900 million in equity free cash flow and leverage of about 2.5 times by year-end. Management said it is prioritizing execution and integration over new deals, despite interest in potential future opportunities. Millicom International Cellular (NASDAQ:TIGO) reported what management described as a solid start to 2026, with first-quarter revenue and cash flow boosted by recent acquisitions and continued growth in its core mobile business. On the company’s earnings call, CEO Marcelo Benitez said Millicom delivered “one of the strongest growth performances in recent history,” citing organic service revenue growth of 4.9% year over year. Total service revenue reached nearly $1.9 billion, while adjusted EBITDA totaled $857 million, representing a margin of 43.2%. → Beyond NVIDIA: Picks-and-Shovels AI Plays with Strong Momentum Benitez said the margin reflected integration and restructuring costs tied to the company’s Colombia transactions. Excluding Coltel, adjusted EBITDA margin would have been 47.9%, he said. Equity free cash flow rose $48 million year over year to $225 million, which CFO Bart Vanhaeren described as a first-quarter record for Millicom. Excluding certain transaction-related effects, Benitez said equity free cash flow would have increased $90 million year over year. → MercadoLibre Boldly Invests in Growth: Discount Deepens Millicom’s mobile business continued to drive growth during the quarter. Benitez said the company’s underlying customer base grew 4% year over year, while reported growth was 38% after including the addition of Coltel in Colombia. The company continued to shift customers from prepaid to postpaid plans. Postpaid customers increased 25%, while prepaid customer…Read full documentShow less
Interested in Millicom International Cellular SA? Here are five stocks we like better. Millicom posted a strong first quarter, with organic service revenue up 4.9% year over year, total service revenue near $1.9 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $857 million. Equity free cash flow also hit a first-quarter record of $225 million. Colombia was the main growth driver and integration focus after Millicom completed major acquisitions there and fully consolidated Coltel. Management expects more than $100 million in first-year cost savings and sees Colombia’s roughly 8% top-line growth as sustainable in 2026. The company kept its full-year guidance unchanged, targeting at least $900 million in equity free cash flow and leverage of about 2.5 times by year-end. Management said it is prioritizing execution and integration over new deals, despite interest in potential future opportunities. Millicom International Cellular (NASDAQ:TIGO) reported what management described as a solid start to 2026, with first-quarter revenue and cash flow boosted by recent acquisitions and continued growth in its core mobile business. On the company’s earnings call, CEO Marcelo Benitez said Millicom delivered “one of the strongest growth performances in recent history,” citing organic service revenue growth of 4.9% year over year. Total service revenue reached nearly $1.9 billion, while adjusted EBITDA totaled $857 million, representing a margin of 43.2%. → Beyond NVIDIA: Picks-and-Shovels AI Plays with Strong Momentum Benitez said the margin reflected integration and restructuring costs tied to the company’s Colombia transactions. Excluding Coltel, adjusted EBITDA margin would have been 47.9%, he said. Equity free cash flow rose $48 million year over year to $225 million, which CFO Bart Vanhaeren described as a first-quarter record for Millicom. Excluding certain transaction-related effects, Benitez said equity free cash flow would have increased $90 million year over year. → MercadoLibre Boldly Invests in Growth: Discount Deepens Millicom’s mobile business continued to drive growth during the quarter. Benitez said the company’s underlying customer base grew 4% year over year, while reported growth was 38% after including the addition of Coltel in Colombia. The company continued to shift customers from prepaid to postpaid plans. Postpaid customers increased 25%, while prepaid customers were largely flat, a trend Benitez attributed to prepaid-to-postpaid migration, seasonal factors and customer base cleanup initiatives. Postpaid customers now represent roughly 29% of Millicom’s mobile base. → 3 Ways to Target the Resources Powering AI and Data Centers Benitez said nearly seven out of every 10 postpaid sales are migration sales, up more than 10 percentage points from a year earlier. Mobile service revenue totaled $1.1 billion, including a $120 million contribution from two months of Coltel operations. Excluding inorganic growth, mobile service revenue grew 7%, or $63 million year over year. Millicom’s home business also expanded, with the organic customer base rising 4.6% to 4.2 million customers. Including Coltel, the home customer base reached 5.7 million. Home service revenue was $374 million, flat year over year on an organic basis. Benitez also highlighted fixed-mobile convergence, saying almost 36% of customers now have both fixed and at least one mobile line with Millicom. He said churn for convergent customers is almost 50% lower than for non-convergent customers. A major focus of the call was Millicom’s expanded position in Colombia. During the quarter, the company completed the purchase of EPM’s 50% ownership stake in Tigo Une and Telefónica’s two-thirds stake in Coltel. Benitez said Millicom also finalized the purchase of the remaining Coltel stake from La Nación two weeks before the call. Millicom is now fully consolidating Coltel’s results. Vanhaeren said Coltel contributed approximately $243 million in service revenue and $33 million in adjusted EBITDA during the quarter. In Colombia, total service revenue reached $653 million. Excluding Coltel, service revenue rose 8.4% year over year. Benitez said organic postpaid customers in Colombia increased almost 9%, while mobile ARPU rose 4.4%. In the home segment, Tigo Une’s customer base grew 8.3% organically to 1.7 million customers. Benitez outlined three priorities for the Colombia integration: Resetting the cost base: Millicom has identified more than $100 million in expected year-one savings through contract renegotiation, company rightsizing and sponsorship rationalization. Improving the network: The company plans to quadruple 5G coverage in 2026 and add more than 1,000 new sites over the next 24 months. Commercial uplift: Millicom plans to simplify offers, accelerate prepaid-to-postpaid migration, improve ARPU and expand cross-selling across fixed networks. During the Q&A, Vanhaeren said management expects Colombia’s top-line growth of roughly 8% to be sustainable during the year. He also said the company believes Coltel will be a net contributor to equity free cash flow in 2026, offsetting restructuring and acquisition financing costs. Benitez said Millicom recorded $65 million of Colombia restructuring costs in the first quarter and expects about $100 million more for the rest of the year, which he said should be offset by savings. Millicom also discussed progress in Chile, where it acquired Telefónica’s operations jointly with NJJ on Feb. 10. Benitez said the company appointed new leadership, began applying its operating playbook and implemented an approximately 30% headcount reduction. The company also reduced debt by $85 million, lowering leverage by about 0.4 times. Vanhaeren said the Chilean business generated approximately $200 million of revenue in the first two months of ownership and delivered positive equity free cash flow. He said the operation had been losing $500,000 per day when Millicom took control. In Ecuador, service revenue reached $110 million, up about 1% from the prior year reference period. Adjusted EBITDA totaled $56 million, corresponding to a 48.3% margin. Vanhaeren said the company had reversed Ecuador’s prior negative revenue trend under former ownership. Benitez said margin gains in Ecuador and Uruguay came from applying Millicom’s playbook, including a zero-based review of costs, focusing investment on networks and sales channels, simplifying organizational structures and renegotiating supplier terms. He said Ecuador’s margins could be affected later in the year by one-time marketing expenses related to a planned Tigo brand launch. Millicom maintained its 2026 financial targets, including equity free cash flow of at least $900 million and leverage of around 2.5 times by year-end. Vanhaeren said the company’s net debt was $7.6 billion at quarter-end, reflecting Coltel’s opening balance sheet, acquisition payments, dividends and foreign exchange effects. He said leverage may increase slightly in the second quarter due to the remaining Coltel acquisition from La Nación and extraordinary dividends paid in April, but management remains confident leverage will decline to around 2.5 times by year-end. On capital allocation, Vanhaeren said management recommended maintaining the dividend policy at $3 per share until leverage reaches 2.5 times. He said the company has sought flexibility for additional shareholder remuneration through dividends or share buybacks if leverage falls below that threshold. Asked about potential further acquisitions, Vanhaeren said execution remains the priority. He noted that Peru and Venezuela remain “good targets to look at” from a menu perspective, but emphasized that the company is focused first on integrating and improving the assets it has recently acquired. Vanhaeren said Millicom is not updating guidance yet, despite a stronger start to the year and more constructive foreign exchange trends. He said the company expects to be in a better position to revisit its outlook on the second-quarter earnings call. Millicom International Cellular SA, trading under the TIGO brand, is a Luxembourg‐headquartered telecommunications and media company that provides a range of mobile, cable broadband, digital television and enterprise services. Through its integrated infrastructure, the company delivers voice and data connectivity, high‐speed internet access and pay‐television packages to millions of customers, supported by ongoing investments in network coverage and capacity. Established in 1990 by Swedish investor Jan Stenbeck, Millicom has grown into a multi‐regional operator focused primarily on Central and South America. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Millicom International Cellular Q1 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for May 2026.
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-12Millicom (Tigo) Q1 2026 Earnings Release
GlobeNewswire
Millicom (Tigo) Q1 2026 Earnings Release
Millicom (Tigo) Q1 2026 Earnings Release Luxembourg, May 12, 2026 – Millicom pleased to announce its first quarter 2026 results. Please find below links to the Q1 2026 Earnings Release and IAS 34 Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. Q1 2026 Highlights* Revenue $2 billion, up 4.2% year-on-year organically and 45.1% as reported Operating profit $416 million, and Adjusted EBITDA of $857 million, which includes $119 million from acquisitions Net profit attributable to company owners of $109 million Equity free cash flow of $225 million up 66.5% year-on-year when excluding last year's infrastructure sale Leverage stood at 2.76x following the acquisitions in Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay *See page 12 for a description of non-IFRS measures and for reconciliations to the nearest equivalent IFRS measures.** EFCF excluding disposals. Millicom Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Benitez commented: “We are off to a strong start in 2026, with solid operational execution and important progress on the strategic initiatives that will shape the future of Millicom. During the quarter, we strengthened our position in Colombia through the acquisition of EPM’s 50% stake in Tigo UNE and Telefónica’s majority stake in Coltel, which we are now fully consolidating in our results. Shortly after quarter-end, we also acquired the remaining stake in Coltel from La Nación de Colombia. Together, these steps give us greater scale, stronger network assets, and a broader customer base in one of our most important markets. Led by NJJ, we began to apply the Millicom playbook in Chile, following the acquisition of Telefónica Chile. While it is still early, the new leadership team has already taken decisive action to simplify the commercial offer, stabilize ARPU, reduce leverage, and resize the organization. Operationally, our underlying business continues to perform well. In Mobile, our prepaid-to-postpaid migration strategy continues to gain traction, supporting ARPU growth and service revenue momentum. Financially, Service Revenue grew 4.9% organically to USD $2 billion while Adjusted EBITDA reached $857 million, with a reported margin of 43.2%, despite initial Coltel integration and restructuring costs. Equity free cash flow was $225 million for the quarter improving $90 million year-on-year when excluding last years infrastructure sale, a strong outcome for what is ty…Read full documentShow less
Millicom (Tigo) Q1 2026 Earnings Release Luxembourg, May 12, 2026 – Millicom pleased to announce its first quarter 2026 results. Please find below links to the Q1 2026 Earnings Release and IAS 34 Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. Q1 2026 Highlights* Revenue $2 billion, up 4.2% year-on-year organically and 45.1% as reported Operating profit $416 million, and Adjusted EBITDA of $857 million, which includes $119 million from acquisitions Net profit attributable to company owners of $109 million Equity free cash flow of $225 million up 66.5% year-on-year when excluding last year's infrastructure sale Leverage stood at 2.76x following the acquisitions in Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay *See page 12 for a description of non-IFRS measures and for reconciliations to the nearest equivalent IFRS measures.** EFCF excluding disposals. Millicom Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Benitez commented: “We are off to a strong start in 2026, with solid operational execution and important progress on the strategic initiatives that will shape the future of Millicom. During the quarter, we strengthened our position in Colombia through the acquisition of EPM’s 50% stake in Tigo UNE and Telefónica’s majority stake in Coltel, which we are now fully consolidating in our results. Shortly after quarter-end, we also acquired the remaining stake in Coltel from La Nación de Colombia. Together, these steps give us greater scale, stronger network assets, and a broader customer base in one of our most important markets. Led by NJJ, we began to apply the Millicom playbook in Chile, following the acquisition of Telefónica Chile. While it is still early, the new leadership team has already taken decisive action to simplify the commercial offer, stabilize ARPU, reduce leverage, and resize the organization. Operationally, our underlying business continues to perform well. In Mobile, our prepaid-to-postpaid migration strategy continues to gain traction, supporting ARPU growth and service revenue momentum. Financially, Service Revenue grew 4.9% organically to USD $2 billion while Adjusted EBITDA reached $857 million, with a reported margin of 43.2%, despite initial Coltel integration and restructuring costs. Equity free cash flow was $225 million for the quarter improving $90 million year-on-year when excluding last years infrastructure sale, a strong outcome for what is typically our weakest quarter. Overall, we are executing a clear strategy: strengthen our core markets, improve customer value, expand convergence, and maintain disciplined cash flow management.” 2026 Financial Targets Millicom targets 2026 EFCF of at least $900 million and year-end leverage around 2.5x. These targets include restructuring costs of all acquired businesses. Subsequent Events Colombia - Purchase of "La Nacion" shareholding in Coltel On April 27, 2026, Millicom completed the acquisition of the remaining 32.5% equity stake in Coltel formerly held by La Nación. Financing Corporate: On April 14, 2026, Millicom completed an $87.5 million aggregate principal amount reopening of its 7.375% Senior Notes due 2032 (the “Additional Notes”) in a Regulation S only private placement that is exempt from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) to Banco General, S.A. The Additional Notes have been admitted to trading on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange Euro MTF market. Colombia (Coltel): On April 13, 2026, Coltel entered into a one-year new bridge facility with Banco Santander for an amount of $100 million at variable rate. Coltel used these funds to repay the $100 million facility with HSBC, with April 17, 2026 as original maturity date. Additionally, on May 7, 2026, Coltel entered into a new one-year working capital loan agreement in local currency by COP 70,000 million (approximately $19 million) with JP Morgan. Paraguay: On April 29, 2026, Tigo Paraguay redeemed all of its 5.875% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2027 (the “Notes”) at par plus accrued and unpaid interest, for an aggregate principal amount of approximately $139.7 million. Tigo Sports On April 13, 2026, Tigo Central America and FOX Latin America announced an agreement under which FOX acquired Tigo Sports’ local sports content, a portfolio of local rights, production capabilities, and on-air talent across Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Voluntary retirement and severance plans Tigo Colombia: In April, 2026, Tigo Colombia conducted a voluntary retirement plan for its employees; severance expenses related to this plan of approximately COP95,000 million (approximately $26 million). Tigo Chile: In April, 2026, Tigo Chile incurred severance costs for approximately CLP19,000 million (approximately $21 million). Q1 2026 Earnings ReleaseIAS 34 Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements Millicom is planning to host a video conference for the global financial community on May 12, 2026, at 08:00 (New York) / 14:00 (Luxembourg) / 13:00 (London). Registration for the interactive event is required at the following link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing details about joining the video conference. Participants who wish to ask a question during the live event must notify the Investor Relations team via email to [email protected] after the start of the event. Participants may also join the conference in listen-only mode by dialing any of the following numbers and entering the Webinar ID: 869 6353 4578 US: +1 929 205 6099 Sweden: +46 850 539 728 UK: +44 330 088 5830 Luxembourg: +352 342 080 9265 Additional international numbers are available at the following link. Accompanying slides and a replay of the event will be available on the Millicom investors website. For further information, please contact: About Millicom Millicom (NASDAQ: TIGO) is a leading provider of fixed and mobile telecommunications services in Latin America. Through its TIGO® and Tigo Business® brands, the company provides a wide range of digital services and products, including TIGO Money for mobile financial services, TIGO Sports for local entertainment, TIGO ONEtv for pay TV, high-speed data, voice, and business-to-business solutions such as cloud and security. As of March 31, 2026, Millicom, including its Honduras Joint Venture and Chile associate, employed over 20,000 people and provided mobile and fiber-cable services through its digital highways to more than 69 million customers, with a fiber-cable footprint over 22 million homes passed. Founded in 1990, Millicom International Cellular S.A. is headquartered in Luxembourg with principal executive offices in Doral, Florida. Attachments Millicom - IAS34 - Q1 2026 Millicom - Earnings Release - Q1 2026

