Netia publikuje wyniki za 2020 rok | Rozmowa z prezesem Andrzejem Abramczukiem

Good day, welcome.

Has anything changed significantly? When it comes to the telecommunications market in Poland, Netia is probably one of the oldest operators—it's been listed on the stock exchange for over 20 years and on the telecommunications market for well over 25 years. So you could say it's a mature operator with extensive experience in the domestic market. Of course, over the years a great deal has changed—the market itself, the business environment, the customer profile—and naturally Netia has adapted and evolved, its services and capabilities as well. Over many years, even organically but also through numerous acquisitions—probably several dozen in total, of both smaller and larger operators—this has led us to where we are today. Currently, Netia has two main business legs: the B2C and B2B markets. On the consumer side, we offer fixed-line telephony, internet access, and television services in an IPTV model. We also provide standard internet access. Our second major leg, and where our greatest experience lies, is the business market. For many years we've been successfully executing a strategy of development and transformation there. We currently have three large data centers in Poland, 12 smaller points housing our and our clients' equipment, and we're about to launch another data center. So that's a very brief summary of how we arrived at what Netia does today.

As many have said, the coronavirus pandemic, which is itself a very negative phenomenon that probably no one could have predicted, did one thing: what was previously considered just nice-to-have—better or worse telecommunications services, basically mobile phones—is today probably in the top three of customer needs, whether we place it before or after gas in the hierarchy. It certainly had a major impact. Customers increasingly realized they need not just internet access, but access with very good parameters—very good speed and throughput—because only then can they carry out their daily activities, which they had to transfer from offices to homes. And then there's navigating this increasingly complex internet ecosystem—streaming, IPTV television, access to entertainment customers want to watch. This meant the comprehensive services offered by Netia became increasingly popular and in higher demand. As a provider, we had to ramp up even more—intensifying our efforts in network development, maintenance, construction, and modernization—to reach as many customers as possible with the widest range of capabilities. This definitely changed the relationship between telecom providers and end customers. I think we managed to rise to the challenge. Coming out of the first three months, so Q2 of last year, we were all a bit terrified, and no one realized it would be so long-lasting; everyone thought it would be a few months. We ensured customers could use access technologies at maximum parameters their premises allowed. For three months we opened up our television products and our entire film library, which was met with very strong appreciation. So apart from distribution challenges—our door-to-door sales model naturally limited interaction with potential customers—when we look at overall results from last year, despite unfavorable circumstances, it seems Netia rose to the challenge the pandemic placed before it. Currently, among business clients, we see growing interest in IT services—more complex telecommunications services and services at the intersection of IT and telecom—to help clients effectively manage their distributed resources, since a significant portion of our clients now operate in a remote work model.

Since 2016, we've been progressively modernizing our network. Where we historically had copper connections, we're replacing them with fiber optic cables, increasing bandwidth. Where services use NFC technology, we want to ensure customers across our entire network can access parameters of 100 Mbps, 200 Mbps, or more. As of the end of last year, within our network's reach, we had over 1.7 million households to which we could offer such parameters. We simply need to continue this work and keep modernizing the network, because that's what customers demand. Where we can't invest day by day, we try to provide better parameters on copper networks through hybrid solutions—combining mobile access technology with fixed-line access based on fiber connections. This way, customers who previously had poor-quality internet connections now have sufficiently improved parameters for remote work and remote learning. We don't publish specific targets for this year, but looking at last year—considering the investment process relies on subcontractors and on administrative capacity to issue necessary permits—we hope that after nine months of the pandemic, administrative bodies have learned to work faster, switching from manual paper-based processes to digital technology. And our subcontractors hopefully won't have too many sick workers, enabling us to connect new locations on schedule.

I said brief? Well, of course it could always be better, but I believe the results Netia published were good. Essentially, we repeated our year-over-year results while simultaneously growing our customer base using our mobile and television services. We achieved a stable EBITDA level, growth in services provided, and growth in the customer base. In Q1 of last year, we completed three acquisitions—one in Kraków and two other operators, one in Kraków and one in Łódź—so we're expanding in areas where we previously weren't present. I'm satisfied with these results. Of course, there are still things to improve, and I think if the whole team works with the same enthusiasm this year, I'm also calm about this year's results. Despite the worst infection numbers at the end of March and the threat of increased restrictions, we hope that whatever we couldn't accomplish in March and April due to lockdown, we'll make up in the following months. I rate last year as good.

We need to remember that we're not strictly a mobile operator. Our service is an MVNO, and we use the nationwide Plus network. We're very satisfied with this cooperation, because last year Netia grew its mobile base by several thousand users. It's an additional service we offer alongside our standard services, and we're happy that among our existing customers—of what we might call an older model of fixed-line telecom services—some decided to use our mobile services. We believe this is the future. An operator wanting to serve a market as large as Poland should have a maximum portfolio of services to meet all customer expectations—not just standard internet and fixed-line telephones and television access, but also mobile services. This is one of the services developing very well year over year and expanding our customer base.

It's difficult for me to answer on behalf of the bidder. Our main shareholder, Cyfrowy Polsat, did conduct a tender offer and announced its results. However, it's hard for me to comment today, as this falls within the domain of the majority shareholder's decisions about whether and under what conditions they announce a tender offer. Honestly, it's also difficult for me to comment in any broader context on the results. I think these questions should be directed to Cyfrowy Polsat, as well as questions about their plans in this regard.

Perhaps I'll say something simple, but we operate on the principle that it's better to be known for achievements than for plans. The first three quarters of last year were quite dynamic, but later the acquisition process and decisions by entities wanting to sell took time. We do have several entities and plans, but which ones they will be and what the results of our discussions will be—we'll certainly inform the market when we sign the appropriate documents and conclude negotiations with current owners who decide to sell their businesses to us.

We're hopeful. We published last year's results only about a week ago, and as of today, the Management Board hasn't yet begun discussions on the possibility of paying a dividend. We still need some time to analyze the company's situation. In my view, the key priorities today are the development and modernization of our network, ensuring the best possible parameters, and launching our new data center—which will be ready any day now—just outside Warsaw, to meet the needs of our B2B clients. These are the main things occupying our attention and our primary objectives. As for dividends, I think it's still too early given last year's events.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Editor.