Spanish telecommunications giant Telefónica ended 2025 with a record net loss of €4.318 billion. The main reason for the negative result is the enormous restructuring costs, including a collective redundancy program in Spain and severance packages for departing management. Despite this, the company recorded a 1.5% increase in revenue, and the new chairman, Marc Murtra, announces maintaining strict budgetary discipline and further focus on key European and Brazilian markets.

Record Net Loss

The group closed 2025 with a loss of 4.318 billion euros, caused mainly by restructuring costs and write-downs from foreign markets.

Costly Staff Changes

Combined severance payments for the outgoing chairman and vice chairman amounted to 78.3 million euros, which met with widespread media criticism.

Exit of Bank BBVA

After three decades, the representative of BBVA bank is leaving the board of directors, cementing the new balance of power among shareholders.

Revenue Growth

Despite the net loss, operating revenue increased by 1.5% thanks to a strong position in Spain and the Brazilian market.

Telefónica, one of the world's largest telecommunications operators, published its financial results for 2025, which caused a stir in the markets. Although the group's revenue rose to €35.12 billion, the final result was burdened by extraordinary costs. The company had to allocate approximately €1.2 billion for compensation and severance payments to former employees in Spain as part of an ERE operation. Additionally, the result was impacted by the strategic decision to withdraw from most markets in Latin America, including a complete exit from Venezuela, which involved high divestment costs. Founded in 1924, the company was a state monopoly in Spain for decades. The foreign expansion that began in the 1990s turned it into a global player, but the volatility of Latin American markets has forced the current management to thoroughly reassess its global strategy. Controversy was sparked by payments to former chairman José María Álvarez-Pallete and vice chairman Ángel Vilá, who together received €78.3 million in severance. The new chairman, Marc Murtra, whose annual remuneration was €5.26 million, emphasizes that thanks to these painful cuts, Telefónica is now a structurally stronger company. Simultaneously, a historic shift is occurring in the ownership structure: after nearly 30 years, the BBVA bank is leaving the board of directors, a result of the entry into the shareholder base of the state holding SEPI and the Saudi group STC. The financial situation of the national operator has also become a topic of political debate. Isabel Díaz Ayuso, President of the Madrid region, accused the government of causing a €1.8 billion drop in the company's value, calling the state's actions a "totalitarian colonization" of the enterprise. Despite the political noise, operational data indicates stability: in Spain and Brazil, the company recorded its best commercial results in seven years. Murtra predicts that the European telecommunications market will face a wave of inevitable mergers, in which Telefónica intends to participate as a strong entity with "iron financial discipline."

Mentioned People

  • Marc Murtra — Chairman of Telefónica, introduced a policy of iron financial discipline.
  • José María Álvarez-Pallete — Former long-time chairman of Telefónica, received a 44 million euro severance package.
  • Isabel Díaz Ayuso — President of the Community of Madrid, criticizing the government's policy towards the company.