Swisscom posts steady Q1 profit, says Vodafone Italia deal on track

Telecoms group Swisscom reported a slightly lower first-quarter core profit on Thursday, but beat market expectations, as business in its core Swiss and Italian markets continued to develop positively.

Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 0.8% to 1.16 billion Swiss francs ($1.27 billion) in the quarter, ahead of analysts’ forecast of 1.14 billion francs in a company-provided consensus.

Switzerland’s leading telecommunications company said its takeover of Vodafone Italia was on track, with completion expected in the first quarter of 2025.

Swisscom is targetting 600 million euros in annual savings through the deal, mainly from migrating Fastweb’s mobile customers to the Vodafone network.

The deal will create Italy’s second-biggest fixed-line broadband operator behind TIM, with a strong presence in the prized business segment, and a leading player in mobile.

Swisscom also confirmed its outlook for 2024.

Shares in the company were seen up 0.9% in premarket trading.