UPDATE 1-Brazil telco TIM's fourth-quarter profit falls as costs rise

Reuters
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SAO PAULO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Brazilian telecom operator TIM SA on Thursday reported a 23.2% decline in fourth-quarter net profit even as revenues surged, on the back of costs linked to its acquisition of Oi's mobile division.

TIM Brasil, controlled by Telecom Italia, posted a profit of 590 million reais ($111.51 million) for the last three months of 2022, even as its revenue surged 22.4% from a year earlier to 5.87 billion reais.

Quarterly revenue from the firm's mobile phone services business jumped 22.7%, as it added users from Oi, after finalizing the acquisition in April alongside Telefonica Brasil and America Movil's Claro.

TIM's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) landed at 2.93 billion reais, 19.6% above a year earlier.

Cost of interest reached 672 million reais, 20.1% more than the same period of 2021, driven by debt the company accrued to finance heavy investments over recent years, including the acquisition of Oi's mobile unit, completed last April.

Oi on Wednesday sought Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection, according to documents seen by Reuters, shortly after emerging from its first bankruptcy protection process in December, after it spent more than six years shedding its assets. ($1 = 5.2911 reais) (Reporting by Peter Frontini; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle and Diane Craft)