Telefónica has closed the first nine months of 2026 with a net profit of 464 million euros, leaving behind the losses of 1.080 million recorded in the same period of the previous year. This turnaround is due to the solid progress of its continuing operations, which contributed earnings of 1.333 million euros (+21.6% year-on-year), more than offsetting the negative impact of 870 million from discontinued operations. In the third quarter alone, the Group's net result stood at 802 million euros (+191.1%).
These results allow the company to chain together four consecutive quarters of simultaneous growth in its main financial metrics, both in reported and constant terms. Between January and September, total revenues reached 24.825 million euros (+2.8% reported and +1.0% constant), driven by the dynamism of the residential business (B2C), which billed 14.678 million, and the business segment (B2B), which contributed 5.950 million.
Operating profitability also showed a notable acceleration. The adjusted Ebitda for the first nine months grew by 4.6% in real terms (+2.5% constant) to 8.846 million euros, marking its largest advance in the last decade. Meanwhile, the adjusted operating cash flow after leases (OpCFaL adjusted) rose by 6.1% reported (+4.2% constant), reaching 4.018 million.
"The Transform & Grow plan is proving effective and allows us to be more ambitious. We are raising our annual growth targets for adjusted Ebitda and adjusted OpCFaL and increasing the forecast for free cash flow generation," highlighted Marc Murtra, executive chairman of Telefónica. Specifically, the operator is improving its adjusted Ebitda growth guidance for 2026 to slightly above 2.5%, raising the adjusted OpCFaL guidance above 3.5%, and increasing the free cash flow target to around 3.100 million euros. Additionally, it confirms the cash dividend of 0.15 euros per share for 2026, payable in June 2027.
Spain and Brazil lead growth while debt decreases
By markets, Telefónica Spain consolidated its recovery by achieving revenues of 9.828 million euros by September (+2.5%), its fastest growth rate in over 15 years, and an adjusted Ebitda of 3.501 million (+2.3%), maintaining an average revenue per user (ARPU) of 90.4 euros and a churn rate at historic lows (0.7%). Telefónica Brazil maintained strong momentum with 7.907 million in revenues (+13.5% real) and 3.473 million in adjusted Ebitda (+16.2%), reaching a record of 120.3 million accesses.
In contrast, Telefónica Germany reported declines in revenues and Ebitda amid an ongoing operational reorganisation, while in the United Kingdom, VMO2 maintained its annual forecasts and announced a transformation plan to save 800 million pounds annually by 2029.
On the financial front, free cash flow from continuing operations grew by 10.7% by September, reaching 1.963 million euros. This cash generation allowed for a reduction in net financial debt by 1.600 million so far this year — its largest decline since 2021 — bringing it to 25.186 million euros and reducing the debt ratio to 2.63 times EbitdaAL.