MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican telecommunications giant America Movil (NYSE:AMX) fell short of analyst projections and swung to a net loss in the second quarter in results posted Tuesday, citing the depreciation of the local peso.
The company, controlled by the family of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, reported a net loss of 1.09 billion ($60 million). In the same period last year, it posted a net profit of close to 26 billion pesos.
Analysts polled by LSEG had estimated dollar-denominated net earnings of $1.06 billion from revenues of $12.09 billion.
The company cited the currency volatility that followed the election victory of President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum last month.
"The Mexican peso, which had weathered the volatility of U.S. interest rates well, weakened sharply following Mexico's June 2 presidential election," America Movil said in its filing with the Mexican stock exchange.
"After months of appreciation against the U.S. dollar and virtually all currencies in our region of operations, the Mexican peso depreciated against all of them," it added.
By end-June, the peso had weakened 7% to the U.S. dollar compared to a year ago. It has since gained back ground.
The company's revenues, however, edged up 1.5% to hit 205.52 billion pesos ($11.24 billion).
America Movil said its core earnings, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), rose nearly 6% in the quarter to 83.1 billion pesos.
It added 2.4 million subscribers, including 1.8 million post-paid customers, driven by gains in Brazil, the region's largest economy. In the fixed-line segment, the company added 376,000 broadband accesses.
In June, America Movil acquired a dominant stake in cable and mobile phone operator ClaroVTR, which had been shared equally with Liberty Latin America (LLA). America Movil will transform the convertible notes it holds in ClaroVTR into shares to obtain a controlling interest of around 91%.
Company executives have said the firm is investing in 5G across its markets as remains on track to implement a $7.1 billion capital expenditure plan set for this year.
($1 = 18.2862 Mexican pesos at end-June)