Telecom Italia’s underperforming partnership with the sports streaming service DAZN has forced it to update its forecast for fiscal year 2021.
In a statement, the telco (TIM) says that organic EBITDA AL for its domestic business is estimated to decrease (“low teens decrease”) “mainly due to lower revenues from wireline, partly attributable to the performance of the partnership with DAZN for the distribution of the Serie A TIM”.
It adds that “any non-recurring provision will be determined in light of the on-going negotiation of the DAZN’s agreement and will be recorded in 2021 FY financial statements”.
The telco also says that thanks to the growth of its Brazil business unit (“mid single-digit”, as previously communicated), group EBITDA AL is expected to be higher than €5.4 billion.
Group Organic Services revenues are confirmed to decrease (“low single-digit”, as previously communicated) and the adjusted consolidated net financial debt AL is expected to be around €17.6 billion after the payment of licenses for €435 million, of which €140 million following the award of 5G frequencies in Brazil.
Broadband TV News notes that the agreement between DAZN and TIM was signed in March this year. DAZN was awarded the TV rights to Serie A matches for 2021-2024 and the deal makes TIM the reference telecom and pay-TV operator offering DAZN content in Italy.