America Movil prepares spending target after Telefonica Chile sells to rivals

MEXICO CITY, Feb 11 (Reuters) – Mexican telecom giant America Movil is preliminarily targeting a capital expenditure of 14%-15% of revenues for 2026 and the coming years, finance chief Carlos Garcia said on Wednesday, following the company’s fourth-quarter results.

Speaking in a conference call, Garcia said this remained to be finalized.

He added that the company will be making the investments necessary to remain competitive in Chile after French holding company NJJ and Luxembourg-based Millicom succeeded on Tuesday in talks to buy Telefonica’s unit there for $1.2 billion. 

America Movil, controlled by the family of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, had prepared to make an offer for the unit together with Chile’s Entel, but the alliance broke down late 2025 and America Movil decided to pursue a potential deal alone.

Executives said funds that would have gone towards the Telefonica Chile deal would be channeled to reducing the group’s debt and being prepared for other acquisition opportunities in the region.

“I think there is going to be consolidation in the market, and we want to be prepared to consolidate,” CEO Daniel Hajj told analysts, pointing to small fiber providers in Latin America and Brazilian internet provider Desktop, with which it has been in talks.

The call came a day after America Movil posted a nearly five-fold increase in net profit on the back of a foreign exchange boost that helped slash its financing costs and push up revenues just over 3%.

Analysts at JPMorgan hailed a “decent quarter,” with a solid performance in Mexico and Colombia but slightly slower progress in Brazil. Shares were up slightly in morning trading.

(Reporting by Sarah Morland; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Brendan O’Boyle)