The operator Parlem Telecom finally managed to stabilize its financial situation last year, nine years after its founding, by achieving 2 million euros of operating profit or ebitda (compared to a negative result of 2.2 million in 2022). Revenue, for its part, grew by 34%, to 49 million euros, as explained by its president and founder Ernest Pérez-Mas and general director Xavier Capellades, who announced that EBITDA will also grow at a double-digit rate this year. year and turnover will exceed 55 million euros.
The firm has achieved 25% growth in telecommunications services in 2023 and is going to reverse its commitment to the electricity market, with the sale of the assets of the renewable energy company Ecolium that it acquired in 2022. The operation It has proven to be a burden – “it has not had the synergies that we expected”, explained Pérez-Mas -, since it contributes only 4 million in income and generates one million in negative EBITDA. Its activity focuses practically on the installation of solar panels. “We have received offers from funds interested in buying it, and we hope to close the sale this year.”
The telecommunications business, on the other hand, with 230,000 contracts (most clients contract several) brings in 45 million in revenue and 3 in EBITDA. The operator, explained its president, has taken off in the Valencian Community with its subsidiary Aproop after more than a year of difficult consolidation of purchases from local operators.
Parlem, assured its president, plans to make new purchases “but we are going to focus on companies with which we share values”, which, he assured, are those of proximity and good service, not low cost.
This model, Capellades explained, allows the company to have an ARPU (revenue per customer) of 37 euros, more than 10% above last year, and a churn of 1.21%, one of the lowest in the sector. .
“The consolidation of the sector will continue, because there are still more than 60 local operators in Catalonia, and we want to be active in that process,” explained Pérez-Mas. All in all, the group’s priority is to grow in other geographic areas “where we can replicate our model, of proximity and attention in our own language,” he assured the executive, pointing to other autonomous communities, where it could replicate the Valencia model, creating with a own brand.
The firm also wants to grow with acquisitions of digital services companies. “Our ambition is to become a reference company in Catalonia in technological digital services, in areas such as cybersecurity or cloud programming,” said Capellades, especially for SMEs and the self-employed.
On the other hand, Pérez-Mas charged against the state’s entry into Telefónica. In his opinion, in a sector where there is a wide private offer, “it is a disastrous idea to spend 2.5 billion euros of public funds” on this purchase instead of allocating them to other socially useful purposes. In his opinion, furthermore, the state’s participation in the company can give rise to a “conflict of interest” in the awarding of public contracts. “Not everyone is going to play with the same cards,” he lamented.
