Helios Towers (HTWS) CMD 2025 summary

Strategic vision and future plans

• Launching IMPACT 2030, targeting capital-efficient organic growth, sector-leading tenancy expansion, customer experience excellence, and digital business excellence platforms, with a focus on compounding cash flow and value creation over the next five years.

• Aiming for over 42,000 tenancies, a tenancy ratio above 2.5x, 15%-20% ROIC, and more than $1.3 billion cumulative recurring free cash flow by 2030, with at least $400 million returned to investors and over $500 million in organic growth CapEx.

• Maintaining market leadership in Africa and the Middle East, leveraging a diversified portfolio across nine markets and nearly 15,000 towers, with $5.5 billion in contracted revenue and an average contract life of nearly seven years.

• Expanding into adjacent digital infrastructure products, such as smart street structures and edge data centers, while keeping 95% of revenue from core tower operations.

• Committing to sustainability through Project 100 and other initiatives, investing $100 million in carbon-reducing projects and aiming for 100% of sites to be grid-connected or solar-powered, with a 37% reduction in diesel emissions per tenant on multi-tenant towers.

Financial guidance and performance

• Achieved 10 consecutive years of EBITDA growth at a 24% CAGR, with 2024 EBITDA guidance at $470 million and free cash flow expected to exceed $60 million.

• Tightened full-year guidance to 2,500 tenancy additions, $160-$180 million CapEx, and net leverage reduced to 3.5–3.6, with a target to deleverage further towards 2 by 2030.

• 71% of EBITDA is in hard currency, supported by inflation and power price escalators in contracts, providing resilience against FX and macro volatility.

• Business model shows near-perfect correlation between tenancy growth and EBITDA, with 97% of EBITDA growth since 2021 driven by operational performance and high operating leverage, with colocation margins around 80%.

• Initiated over $400 million in investor distributions, including a $250 million share buyback (with $75 million authorized through 2026) and a $25 million dividend for 2026, growing at over 10% per annum.

Operational excellence and innovation

• Embedded Lean Six Sigma discipline across the organization, with 70% of staff targeted for training by next year or FY26, driving process efficiency and continuous improvement.

• Achieved 99.99% power uptime and reduced average downtime per tower from over four minutes in 2022 to one minute in 2025, targeting below 10 seconds by 2030.

• Leveraged proprietary GIS and digital platforms to optimize site selection, rollout speed, and lease-up, doubling colocation rates on new builds compared to earlier vintages.

• Maintained flat average tower build costs over eight years through value engineering, automation, and standardization, despite inflationary pressures.

• Ongoing focus on sustainability and operational resilience, with a 37% reduction in diesel emissions per tenant and strong community support for infrastructure.