The Catalan telecommunications operator presents its positive economic balance for 2020 and its strategic lines for 2021

  • The company will initiate a new round of financing over the following weeks with the aim of reaching at least €10 million before entering the BME Growth market
  • Parlem has increased its annual turnover by 70%, going from revenues of €10.9M (2019) to €18.7M (2020)
  • The effects of COVID-19 in the sector have not prevented the growth of the company, which in 2020 obtained profits for the first time and an EBITDA of €660,000
  • The company will invest €1 M to carry out its territorial expansion over the next 12 months, during which it plans to open dozens of its own stores in every region of Catalonia

 

Barcelona, 7 May 2021. – Parlem Telecom is preparing its debut on the BME Growth stock market after earning its best historical economic results last year when the telecommunications operator achieved a turnover of €18.7 million.

This figure represents an increase in revenue of 70% compared to 2019, the year in which the Catalan company obtained €10.9 M in turnover. In this regard, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were hardly noticed in the business expansion of Parlem Telecom, which closed out 2020 with profits of close to €11,000 and an EBITDA of €660,000. Specifically, the total number of mobile lines went from 36.3k (2019) to 54.7k (2020), while landline-based services (fibre or ADSL) went from 16.6k (2019) to 24.5k (2020). At the same time, the operator’s progressive commitment to B2B clients—via its Parlem Empresas business area—is already bearing its first results, as business clients accounted for 11% of the total revenues for 2020 (€2.074M) compared to 89% of residential customers (€16.684M). When it comes to 2021, the company’s growth prospects are even better and during the first quarter, the operator has already reached a total of €6M, a figure that exceeds results for the entire 2018 financial year (€5.6M).

 

The Catalan company, which is headed by its main shareholder and CEO, Ernest Pérez-Mas, will launch a new round of financing in the coming weeks, through which it aspires to obtain a capital of €10M to carry out its debut on the market. Recently, Parlem Telecom also taken out a convertible bond worth €3M and was assisted in this regard by the venture capital manager Inveready, another of the operator’s main shareholders.

 

Parlem’s expansion over the next 12 months

Parlem Telecom’s immediate strategy is to achieve an even greater presence in Catalonia with the opening of dozens of physical stores, which will allow it to break into rural areas and some large urban centres.

The operator, which will invest €1M in this territorial expansion in the next 12 months, will act on three levels: flagship stores in provincial capitals, franchise stores in regional capitals, and mobile/corner stores in small towns. With this plan, Parlem Telecom aims to reach a market of 300,000 users and plans to generate more than €2M in revenue in 2022. In turn, the Catalan company will acquire its own fibre infrastructure in the rural areas where its establishments will be located to accelerate the acquisition of customers. Currently, the operator has three of its own physical stores throughout Catalonia located in Barcelona, Lleida and Reus.

Parlem Telecom’s strategy for the coming months also includes the acquisition of local telecommunications companies in the target territories to reinforce its rural plan. This route will offer a rapid expansion of the operator, which hopes to continue to be among the 200 fastest growing companies in Europe, as the Financial Times attested in its 2020 and 2021 rankings. In turn, Parlem Telecom is open to developing its business beyond Catalonia, particularly in the Balearic Islands, where in 2019 it already acquired the company Lemon Telecom, and in Valencia. Over the medium term, the company sets the following targets for 2024: total revenue of over €60M, an EBITDA of 15% and business clients that account for 20% of turnover.