A transformational yearLuxembourg, February 25, 2020 – Millicom is pleased to announce its fourth quarter 2019 and full year results. Please find a link to the Q4 2019 Combined Earnings Release and IAS 34 Interim Financial Statements [Attachments].Millicom Chief Executive Officer Mauricio Ramos commented:“2019 was a truly transformational year for Millicom. We began by listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market in the U.S. and by focusing our efforts on the successful integration of Cable Onda in Panama, which we acquired in December 2018. In February, we announced our agreement to acquire market-leading mobile assets in Nicaragua, Panama, and Costa Rica, thus completing our product portfolio and enabling us to provide fixed-mobile convergent services in all nine of the countries where we operate in Latam. Towards year-end, we took part in important spectrum auctions in El Salvador and Colombia, which will allow us to continue to grow and provide the high-quality service that our customers expect.These meaningful investments in Latam were funded in part by re-allocating capital from Africa, as we divested Chad and supported the IPOs of Jumia and Helios Towers. We capped the year by welcoming many new shareholders to Tigo, after the company’s long-term major shareholder, Kinnevik, decided to distribute its 37% stake in Millicom to its own shareholders.2019 was more challenging than we had anticipated due to political disruption and competitive pressure in some markets, but I believe that we are now stronger than ever to capture the opportunities that lie ahead in 2020 and beyond. Finally, we have pivoted our shareholder remuneration to a combination of dividends and share buybacks, which we believe
demonstrates capital allocation discipline and our continued focus on creating shareholder value.”Q4 2019 Earnings Release [Attachment]IAS 34 Interim Financial Statements [Attachment]Conference call detailsA presentation and conference call to discuss these results will take place today, February 25th, 2020 at 14:00 (Stockholm) / 13:00 (London) / 08:00 (Miami).Please dial in 5-10 minutes before the scheduled start time to register your attendance.
Dial-in numbers for the call are as follows:Sweden: +46 (0) 8 5069 2180 Luxembourg: +352 2786 0515
UK: +44 (0) 20719 28000 US: +1 631 5107 495The access code is: 2348098A live audio stream, presentation slides, and replay information can be accessed at www.millicom.com.-END-For further information, please contactAbout Millicom
Millicom (NASDAQ U.S.: TIGO, Nasdaq Stockholm: TIGO_SDB) is a leading provider of cable and mobile services dedicated to emerging markets in Latin America and Africa. Millicom sets the pace when it comes to providing high-speed broadband and innovation around The Digital Lifestyle® services through its principal brand, TIGO. As of December 31, 2019, Millicom operating subsidiaries and joint ventures employed more than 22,000 people and provided mobile services to approximately 52 million customers, with a cable footprint of more than 11 million homes passed. Founded in 1992, Millicom International Cellular S.A. is headquartered in Luxembourg.Forward-Looking Statements
Statements included herein that are not historical facts, including without limitation statements concerning future
strategy, plans, objectives, expectations and intentions, projected financial results, liquidity, growth and prospects, are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time. In the event such risks or uncertainties materialize, Millicom’s results could be materially adversely affected. The risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following:
• global economic conditions and foreign exchange rate fluctuations as well as local economic conditions in the markets we serve;
• telecommunications usage levels, including traffic and customer growth;
• competitive forces, including pricing pressures, the ability to connect to other operators’ networks and our ability to retain market share in the face of competition from existing and new market entrants as well as industry consolidation;
• legal or regulatory developments and changes, or changes in governmental policy, including with respect to the availability of spectrum and licenses, the level of tariffs, tax matters, the terms of interconnection, customer access and international settlement arrangements;
• adverse legal or regulatory disputes or proceedings;
• the success of our business, operating and financing initiatives and strategies, including partnerships and capital expenditure plans;
• the level and timing of the growth and profitability of new initiatives, start-up costs associated with entering new markets, the successful deployment of new systems and applications to support new initiatives;
• relationships with key suppliers and costs of handsets and other equipment;
• our ability to successfully pursue acquisitions, investments or merger opportunities, integrate any acquired businesses in a timely and cost-effective manner and achieve the expected benefits of such transactions;
• the availability, terms and use of capital, the impact of regulatory and competitive developments on capital outlays, the ability to achieve cost savings and realize productivity improvements;
• technological development and evolving industry standards, including challenges in meeting customer
demand for new technology and the cost of upgrading existing infrastructure;
• the capacity to upstream cash generated in operations through dividends, royalties, management fees and repayment of shareholder loans; and
• other factors or trends affecting our financial condition or results of operations.A further list and description of risks, uncertainties and other matters can be found in Millicom’s Registration Statement on Form 20-F, including those risks outlined in “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors,” and in Millicom’s subsequent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, all of which are available at www.sec.gov.All forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their
entirety by this cautionary statement. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements that speak only as of the date hereof. Except to the extent otherwise required by applicable law, we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.Non IFRS Measures
This press release contains financial measures not prepared in accordance with IFRS. These measures are referred to as “non-IFRS” measures and include: non-IFRS service revenue, non-IFRS EBITDA, and non-IFRS Capex, among others defined below. Annual growth rates for these non-IFRS measures are often expressed in organic constant currency terms to exclude the effect of changes in foreign exchange rates, the adoption of new accounting standards such as IFRS 16 and are proforma for material changes in perimeter due to acquisitions and divestitures. The non-IFRS financial measures are presented in this press release as Millicom’s management believes they provide investors with an additional information for the analysis of Millicom’s results of operations, particularly in evaluating performance from one period to another. Millicom’s management uses non-IFRS financial measures to make operating decisions, as they facilitate additional internal comparisons of Millicom’s performance to historical results and to competitors’ results, and provides them to investors as a supplement to Millicom’s reported results to provide additional insight into Millicom’s operating performance. Millicom’s Remuneration Committee uses certain non-IFRS measures when assessing the performance and compensation of employees, including Millicom’s executive directors.The non-IFRS financial measures used by Millicom may be calculated differently from, and therefore may not be
comparable to, similarly titled measures used by other companies – refer to the section “Non-IFRS Financial Measure Descriptions” for additional information. In addition, these non-IFRS measures should not be considered in isolation as a substitute for, or as superior to, financial measures calculated in accordance with IFRS, and Millicom’s financial results calculated in accordance with IFRS and reconciliations to those financial statements should be carefully evaluated.Financial Measure Descriptions
Service revenue is revenue related to the provision of ongoing services such as monthly subscription fees, airtime and data usage fees, interconnection fees, roaming fees, mobile finance service commissions and fees from other telecommunications services such as data services, short message services and other value-added services excluding telephone and equipment sales.
EBITDA is operating profit excluding impairment losses, depreciation and amortization, and gains/losses on fixed asset disposals.
Proportionate EBITDA is the sum of the EBITDA in every country where Millicom operates, including its Guatemala and Honduras joint ventures, pro rata for Millicom’s ownership stake in each country, less corporate costs that are not allocated to any country and intercompany eliminations.
Organic growth represents year-on-year growth excluding the impact of changes in FX rates, perimeter, and accounting. Changes in perimeter are the result of acquisitions and divestitures. Results from divested assets are immediately removed from both periods, whereas the results from acquired assets are included in both periods at the beginning (January 1) of the first full calendar year of ownership.
Net debt is Gross debt less cash and pledged and term deposits.
Net financial obligations is Net debt plus lease obligations.
Proportionate net financial obligations is the sum of the net financial obligations in every country where Millicom operates, including its Guatemala and Honduras joint ventures, pro rata for Millicom’s ownership stake in each country.
Leverage is the ratio of net financial obligations over LTM (last twelve month) EBITDA, proforma for acquisitions made during the last twelve months.
Proportionate leverage is the ratio of proportionate net financial obligations over LTM proportionate EBITDA, proforma for acquisitions made during the last twelve months.
Capex is balance sheet capital expenditure excluding spectrum and license costs and finance lease capitalizations from tower sale and leaseback transactions.
Cash Capex represents the cash spent in relation to capital expenditure, excluding spectrum and licenses costs and lease capitalizations from tower sale and leaseback transactions.
Operating Cash Flow (OCF) is EBITDA less Capex.
Operating Free Cash Flow is OCF less changes in working capital and other non-cash items and taxes paid.
Equity Free Cash Flow is Operating Free Cash Flow less finance charges paid (net), less advances for dividends to non-controlling interests, plus dividends received from joint ventures.
Operating Profit After Tax displays the profit generated from the operations of the company after statutory taxes.
Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) is used to assess the Group’s efficiency at allocating the capital under its control to and is defined as Operating Profit After Tax, including Guatemala and Honduras as if fully consolidated, divided by the average invested Capital during the period.
Average Invested Capital is the capital invested in the company operation throughout the year and is calculated with the average of opening and closing balances of the total assets minus current liabilities (excluding debt, joint ventures, accrued interests, deferred and current tax, cash as well as investments and non-controlling interests), less assets and liabilities held for sale.
Underlying measures, such as Underlying service revenue, Underlying EBITDA, Underlying equity free cash flow, Underlying net debt, Underlying leverage, etc., include Guatemala and Honduras, as if fully consolidated.
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