Comparison of the Group’s expectations with actual figures

In the 2021 Annual Report, we outlined expectations for the 2022 financial year for our financial and non-financial key performance indicators anchored in our management system. The following tables summarize the pro forma figures for 2021, the results expected for the reporting year, and the actual results achieved in 2022. The performance indicators that we also forecast in the 2021 Annual Report and their development are presented in the individual sections.

The comparison shown in the table of the pro forma figures for 2021 and the expectations formulated on this basis for 2022 with the results actually generated for 2022 is not like for like, i.e., these figures are not based on comparable exchange rates. Below we describe the results achieved on a like-for-like basis, i.e., at comparable exchange rates and excluding the results of T‑Mobile Netherlands for the first quarter of 2022. Similarly, for the purposes of this comparison, we have not included any positive effects from the suspension of depreciation and amortization for GD Towers due to it being recognized as a discontinued operation.

Once again we look back on a successful financial year. We met or significantly exceeded our expectations. As expected, our revenue trended stably in organic terms, i.e., adjusted for exchange rate effects and changes to the composition of the Group, while service revenue grew substantially on an organic basis by 3.7 %. Adjusted EBITDA AL increased in organic terms by 1.7 %, despite the strategic withdrawal from the terminal equipment lease business model in the United States. Even under the premises we formulated for our guidance, i.e., excluding the results of T‑Mobile Netherlands and the positive effects from suspending depreciation and amortization for GD Towers, we still outperformed our most recently communicated guidance of over EUR 37.0 billion. At EUR 1.83, adjusted earnings per share were significantly higher than our revised guidance of more than EUR 1.50, due to the positive development of operations and a number of positive one-time effects. ROCE increased to 4.5 %. At EUR 11.5 billion, free cash flow AL (before dividend payments and spectrum investment) clearly exceeded our latest guidance of over EUR 10.0 billion, even taking positive exchange rate effects into account. Cash capex (before spectrum investment), taking the increases from exchange rate effects into account, was slightly higher than expected.

We are also on track with our non-financial performance indicators. In our domestic market of Germany, we recorded an increase both for mobile communications and for broadband. In the United States operating segment, we once again recorded strong growth in postpaid customers: the number of customers increased by a record 6.4 million, thereby exceeding our already high expectations. Customer numbers in our Europe operating segment trended positively and above our expectations in some areas, in particular the number of fixed-network lines and mobile customers.

Order entry in our Systems Solutions operating segment was below the figure forecast, due to the reassignment of the security business to the Germany operating segment, which had not been accounted for in the original planning. On a like-for-like basis with the prior year, order entry was up slightly, in line with our expectations.

Employee satisfaction remained high in 2022 at 78 points. At the end of the reporting year, customer satisfaction came in at 76.0 points compared with an adjusted baseline figure of 72.6 points at the start of the year. Following changes to the revenue shares contributed by each country and in order to create an equivalent basis for comparing the Group’s expectations with actual figures, we recalculated the baseline figure for 2022 on the basis of the new structures these changes entailed. The new baseline thus diverges from the figure of 73.4 reported as of December 31, 2021. The Germany, Europe, and Systems Solutions operating segments contributed to the very positive development with clear improvements in customer loyalty. The Group’s energy consumption remained stable while CO₂ emissions declined slightly, both of which were in line with our expectations.

For further information on the trends in our main financial and non-financial performance indicators, please refer to the relevant passages in this section as well as in the section “Development of business in the operating segments.”