Cyfrowy Polsat interested in participating in 700 and 800 MHz bands auction

"We are interested in both the 700 MHz and 800 MHz bands, it is at the centre of our interest," CEO Blaszczyk said.

Poland's telecom market regulator UKE inaugurated the auction of the 700 and 800 MHz bands in August. The deadline for initial bids in the Auction is January 27, 2025, at 3 pm local time. The subject of the auction is seven frequency reservations.

The starting price for the auction of the 700 and 800 MHz bands will be PLN 356 million (EUR 81.9 mln).

"It is worth noting that in 2025 we will double the production, as far as wind is concerned (...), so that in 2026 we will have installed capacity at the level of 750 MW and so that in 2026 we will achieve the overarching goal of our 2023+ strategy, i.e. potential energy production capacity of 2 TWh," said the deputy CEO of Cyfrowy Polsat Maciej Stec.

"(...) this allows us to maintain our forecast from December 2021 as far as the results of this segment and the EBITDA contribution to the results of our group at the level of PLN 500-600 million," he added.

Stec also announced that the company is looking at the fast channel segment.

"In terms of development CAPEX, in the third quarter alone it was PLN 277 million, in nine months it was over PLN 500 million. Please expect that in the fourth quarter, there will be expenses mainly for the farm in Drzezewo and partly capital expenses related to green hydrogen, also for sure this amount in the whole year will be higher," CFO Katarzyna Ostap-Tomann said.

"However, I would like to sound you out, in connection with the fact that the installation of turbines for Drzezewo is [to be carried out] around the end of the year (...), on the possible postponement of payments and therefore the CAPEX to the first quarter of 2025," she added.

Ostap-Tomann also pointed out that nothing has changed in the maturity of the group's debt for a long time.

"We have stipulated in the loan agreement and in our bond documents how this debt will be repaid. By the end of this year, we have PLN 155 million to repay in the instalment of our loans," she said.

She pointed out that Cyfrowy Polsat will repay the PLN 621 million (EUR 142.8 mln) loan in 2025 in more or less equal instalments. It added that in 2026 it will be over PLN 700 million (EUR 161 mln), also in roughly four equal instalments.

"Despite various press reports, our debt maturity is absolutely transparent," Cyfrowy Polsat's CFO stressed.

"The loan matures in 2028, the bonds mature in 2030," she explained.

mcb/ ao/ han/