Helios Towers PLC · LSE:HTWS
Helios Towers — FY2024 Earnings Presentation
38 slides from Helios Towers's earnings presentation, Mar 13, 2025
Slide 1: FY 2024 Results
FY 2024 Results Milestone year, inflecting to positive and growing free cash flow 13 March 2025
Slide 2: Today's Presenters
TODAY’S PRESENTERS Manjit Dhillon Tom Greenwood Chris Baker-Sams Chief Financial Officer & Chief Executive Officer Head of Strategic Finance HT Oman Executive Chair & Investor Relations 2 Helios Towers FY 2024 Results
Slide 3: Agenda
Agenda 1. Highlights 2. Financial results 3. Q&A Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Slide 4: Highlights
1x Highlights 2x 3x
Slide 5: 2024 was a milestone year as the business inflects to positive and growing FCF
HIGHLIGHTS 1 2 3 4 Solid progress Strong and consistent Improved balance FY 25 Guidance: towards ‘2.2x by 26’ financial performance sheet Continued growth and FCF expansion YoY(5) • +2,481 tenancy additions (+9%), • +10% YoY revenue to $792m • Net leverage reduction of -0.4x YoY • +2,000 - 2,500 ten
Slide 6: FY 2024 Guidance Exceeded
FY 2024 GUIDANCE EXCEEDED FY 24 FY 24 US$m 40 – 60 Guidance Actual 19 Organic tenancy additions +c.2,400 +2,481 (Initial guidance: 1,600 – 2,100) FY 22 FY 23 FY 24 FY 25 guidance Adj. EBITDA c.$420m $421m (81) (Initial guidance: $405m – $420m) (721) PFCF c.$290m $298m (Initial guidance: $275m – $290
Slide 7: Ten years of uninterrupted Adj. EBITDA growth
TEN YEARS OF UNINTERRUPTED ADJ. EBITDA GROWTH THROUGH OUR RESILIENT AND PREDICTABLE BUSINESS MODEL Adjusted EBITDA (US$m) +26% CAGR 460 - 470 421 370 283 241 227 205 178 146 105 54 FY 15 FY 16 FY 17 FY 18 FY19 FY 20 FY 21 FY 22 FY 23 FY 24 FY 25 guidance 7 Helios Towers FY 2024 Results
Slide 8: Our business model: long term tenant cash flows with ROIC enhancement
OUR BUSINESS MODEL: LONG TERM TENANT CASH FLOWS WITH ROIC ENHANCEMENT THROUGH MULTI-OCCUPANCY Tenant hosting & power services Long term cash flows 1 What we do 2 Our value creation 3 Contracted future revenue Cash-on-cash ROIC(1) $5.1bn tenant 34% 1x (Day 1 anchor) 25% 2x tenant 12% ~7 years average
Slide 9: Strong and consistent tenancy additions reflect structural growth
STRONG AND CONSISTENT TENANCY ADDITIONS REFLECTS STRUCTURAL GROWTH AND CUSTOMER SERVICE FOCUS YoY organic tenancy growth Delivering high single digit +7% +8% +8% +10% +9% +7-9% annual organic tenancy +8% growth since IPO Middle East & North Africa Central & Southern Africa 2,481 2,000 – 2,500 +30k 2
Slide 10: 2024 was a milestone year inflecting to positive and growing free cash flow
2024 WAS A MILESTONE YEAR AS THE BUSINESS INFLECTS TO POSITIVE AND GROWING FREE CASH FLOW Our target: >2.10x Tenancy 2.13x 2.05x ratio 1.96x 1.91x 1.81x 14.5% c.14% ROIC 12.9% 11.8% 12.0% 10.3% New market Senegal Malawi acquisitions Madagascar Oman 14k 7k (1) 1.2x doubled increased hard acquired ten
Slide 11: Capital Allocation Priorities
CAPITAL ALLOCATION PRIORITIES Continued EBITDA and ROIC expansion, plus deleveraging, increases surplus free cash flow supporting potential shareholder distributions Current priorities: Optimised organic Capital efficient investments accretive to ROIC – colocations, investments operational efficienc
Slide 12: Financial results
Financial results Kinshasa, DRC
Slide 13: Targeting compounding free cash flow growth in 2025
TARGETING COMPOUNDING FREE CASH FLOW GROWTH IN 2025 Organic tenancy additions (#) Adj. EBITDA (US$m) ROIC (%) Free cash flow (US$m) Tenancy ratio expansion Organic growth ROIC expansion +0.1x +0.1x >0.1x +$46m +$51m +$39-49m +2ppt +1ppt +1ppt Consistent delivery c.14% 40 - 60 through 2.2x strategy 2
Slide 14: FY 2024: Tenancy additions driven by structural growth and leading market positions
FY 2024: TENANCY ADDITIONS DRIVEN BY STRUCTURAL GROWTH, LEADING MARKET POSITIONS AND CUSTOMER SERVICE FOCUS Sites Tenancies Tenancy ratio +2% +9% +0.14x 14,097 14,325 29,406 2.05x 26,925 1.91x 2,535 2,549 4,188 3,375 5,166 5,270 10,942 11,563 6,396 6,506 12,608 13,655 FY 23 FY 24 FY 23 FY 24 FY 23 F
Slide 15: FY 2024: Revenue growth driven by tenancy additions
FY 2024: REVENUE GROWTH DRIVEN BY TENANCY ADDITIONS, UNDERPINNED BY CONTRACTED REVENUES WITH MULTINATIONAL CUSTOMERS FY 24 revenue by currency Revenue (US$m) Revenue commentary 16% USD +10% • 68% revenue in hard currency, largely due CFA Franc / EUR to four of our nine markets being innately 16% 59%
Slide 16: Adj. EBITDA growth highly correlated to tenancy additions and resilient to FX, CPI
ADJ. EBITDA GROWTH IS HIGHLY CORRELATED TO TENANCY ADDITIONS AND RESILIENT TO FX, CPI AND POWER PRICE MOVEMENTS FY 24 YoY revenue walkthrough(1,2) FY 24 YoY Adj. EBITDA walkthrough(1) (US$m) (US$m) +10% +14% 9 23 (31) 53 - 11 (13) 71 Driven by Fx movements Fx impact largely mitigated in Tanzania (-8
Slide 17: Adj. EBITDA driven by tenancies with little impact from macro volatility
OVER THE LAST TEN YEARS OUR ADJ. EBITDA HAS BEEN DRIVEN BY TENANCIES, WITH LITTLE IMPACT FROM MACRO VOLATILITY 436 416 423 R- Squared(1): R-Squared(1): 403 409 Tenancy additions FX / Oil 382 356 Our Adjusted EBITDA 0.96 <0.05 303 339 is driven by tenancy (Q1 15 – Q4 24) (Q1 15 – Q4 24) 278 283 262 2
Slide 18: Capex is tightly controlled and focused on ROIC accretive opportunities
CAPEX IS TIGHTLY CONTROLLED AND FOCUSED ON ROIC ACCRETIVE OPPORTUNITIES 765 557 FY 24 Guidance: 203 • FY 24 capex of $169m, of which $42m 20 150 - 180 was non-discretionary 169 5 • Below guidance range of $170m - $180m, due to cost efficiencies and 113 colocation outperformance 171 93 100 - 150 FY 2
Slide 19: Extended maturities and largely fixed rate debt
EXTENDED MATURITIES AND LARGELY FIXED RATE DEBT PROVIDES INTEREST COST VISIBILITY Debt KPIs (US$m) FY 23 FY 24 Commentary Gross debt 1,890 1,901 • Refinanced through $850m bond Cash & cash equivalents 107 161 issuance and prior bond and repayment of 2025 bond and partial term loan, Net debt(1) 1,783
Slide 20: Operational and financial leverage supporting +$100m FCF improvement
OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL LEVERAGE SUPPORTING +$100M FCF IMPROVEMENT Management cash flow (US$m) Commentary (42) RLFCF is the cash generated that (48) management can allocate • +11% YoY growth in portfolio free (33) towards discretionary cash flow (PFCF), driven by Adjusted capex, debt paydowns EBIT
Slide 21: FY 2025 Guidance
FY 2025 GUIDANCE FY 23 FY 24 FY 25 Actual Actual Guidance(1) Organic tenancy additions +2,433 +2,481 +2,000 - 2,500 Adj. EBITDA $370m $421m $460m - $470m $203m $169m $150m - $180m Capex(2) ($168m disc. / ($127m disc. / ($100m - $130m disc. / $35m non-disc.) $42m non-disc.) $50m non-disc.) Free cash
Slide 22: Key Takeaways
KEY TAKEAWAYS ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Nearing 2.2x Continued Adj. Targeting continued Anticipate financial tenancy ratio target EBITDA growth and growth, FCF flexibility to support ROIC expansion, expansion and investor supporting FCF deleveraging in distributions in inflection in FY 24 FY 25 FY 26 22 Helios Towers
Slide 23: Q&A Thank you
Q&A Thank you Jërëjëf Medaase Zikomo Merci Matondi Asante Misaotra Shukranًشكرا Siyabonga Matondo Sur, Oman
Slide 24: Investor Relations
INVESTOR RELATIONS IR Contact Upcoming IR events 13 March JP Morgan European Opportunities Forum Chris Baker-Sams Head of Strategic Finance and Investor Relations 17 – 24 March UK and US non deal roadshow investorrelations@heliostowers.com 19 March Berenberg UK Corporate Conference 25 March Jefferie
Slide 25: Appendix
Appendix Blantyre, Malawi
Slide 26: Market Overview: Macro and Industry Snapshot
MARKET OVERVIEW: MACRO AND INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT Mobile GB/month Unique Mobile Unique mobile PoS Growth Towers held by Credit ratings # MNOs(1) Subs(2) Subs CAGR(2) CAGR(4) Credit ratings(6) Penetration(2) per Sub(3) MNOs(5) momentum(7) (YoY) (2024 – 2029) (2024 – 2029) Tanzania 4 44% 2.8 6% 6% 4% 0.7k
Slide 27: Q4 2024: Sites and Tenancies
Q4 2024: SITES AND TENANCIES Population Sites Tenancies Tenancy ratio coverage Q4 Q3 Q4 Q4 Q3 Q4 Q4 Q3 Q4 Q4 YoY QoQ YoY QoQ YoY QoQ 23 24 24 23 24 24 23 24 24 24 Tanzania 4,156 4,207 4,226 70 19 9,680 10,358 10,495 815 137 2.33x 2.46x 2.48x 0.15x 0.02x 43m Senegal 1,444 1,459 1,459 15 0 1,573 1,629
Slide 28: Operational & Financial Highlights
OPERATIONAL & FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS YoY YoY In US$m, unless otherwise stated FY 24 FY 23 Change Q4 24 Q4 23 Change Sites (#) 14,325 14,097 +2% 14,325 14,097 +2% Tenancies (#) 29,406 26,925 +9% 29,406 26,925 +9% Tenancy ratio (x) 2.05x 1.91x +0.14x 2.05x 1.91x +0.14x Revenue 792 721 +10% 207 187 +11%
Slide 29: Income Statement
INCOME STATEMENT 12 months ended 31 December US$m 2024 2023 Revenue 792.0 721.0 Cost of sales (408.9) (450.4) Gross profit 383.1 270.6 Administrative expenses (135.6) (127.6) Profit on disposal of property, plant and equipment (5.2) 3.1 Operating profit 242.3 146.1 Interest receivable 3.4 1.3 Other
Slide 30: Balance Sheet
BALANCE SHEET US$m 2024 2023 Non-current assets Intangible assets 531.4 546.4 Property, plant and equipment 981.0 918.3 Right-of-use assets 246.9 254.0 Deferred tax asset 42.2 13.6 Derivative financial assets 13.5 6.3 1,815.0 1,738.6 Current assets Inventories 10.0 12.7 Trade and other receivables 3
Slide 31: Management Cash Flow
MANAGEMENT CASH FLOW 12 months ended 31 December US$m 2024 2023 Adjusted EBITDA 421.0 369.9 Less: Maintenance and corporate capital additions (41.7) (35.5) Payments of lease liabilities(1) (47.7) (45.3) Tax paid (33.2) (20.9) Portfolio free cash flow 298.4 268.2 Cash conversion %(2) 71% 73% Net paym
Slide 32: Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Loss Before Tax
RECONCILIATION OF ADJUSTED EBITDA TO LOSS BEFORE TAX 12 months ended 31 December US$m 2024 2023 Adjusted EBITDA 421.0 369.9 Adjustments applied in arriving at Adjusted EBITDA Adjusting items: Deal costs(1) (1.4) (3.3) Share-based payments and long-term incentive plans(2) (4.7) (3.7) Other/Restructur
Slide 33: ROIC Breakdown
ROIC BREAKDOWN US$m 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Property, plant and equipment 594.7 708.2 907.9 918.3 981.0 Accumulated depreciation 713.0 833.3 934.0 1,127.5 1,236.5 Accumulated maintenance and corporate capital expenditure (180.6) (202.7) (224.8) (260.3) (302.0) Intangible assets 23.2 231.4 575.2 546
Slide 34: Cash Flow Definitions
CASH FLOW DEFINITIONS Metric Use Portfolio free cash flow Cash generated on our existing platform, before interest and (PFCF) working capital expenses Cash generated that management can allocate towards Recurring levered free cash discretionary capex, debt paydowns and/or shareholder flow (RLFCF) di
Slide 35: Adj. EBITDA growth highly correlated to tenancy additions (FY 22-24)
ADJ. EBITDA GROWTH IS HIGHLY CORRELATED TO TENANCY ADDITIONS AND RESILIENT TO FX, CPI AND POWER PRICE MOVEMENTS Adj. EBITDA walkthrough FY 22-24(1) (US$m) +31% +14% 53 0 11 (13) 41 12 (8) 38 3 Over a two-year period that was characterised by high inflation and currency volatility, our CPI escalators
Slide 36: Sustainable Business Strategy Update
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS STRATEGY UPDATE Positive progress with our local, diverse and talented teams delivering reliable and expanded mobile connectivity Mgmt. Impact KPI comp(1) FY 22 FY 23 FY 24 FY 26 Record downtime per tower per week of 1:16 in FY 24, falling below 1 minute for the first time in De
Slide 37: Leading ESG Credentials
LEADING ESG CREDENTIALS Third ‘AAA’ ESG rating from MSCI, Feb 25 FTSE4Good Index inclusion, Jun 24 Scored B, Feb 25 Gold rating, Feb 24 (the highest possible score from MSCI) (for a third consecutive year) (2024 rating reaffirmed) (rated top 5% of telecoms industry) ESG Risk Rating of 16.7 (Low Risk
Slide 38: Disclaimer
DISCLAIMER This presentation does not constitute an offering of securities or otherwise constitute an invitation or inducement to any person to underwrite, subscribe for or otherwise acquire or dispose of securities in Helios Towers plc (the "Company") or any other member of the Helios Towers group