Mexican operator, America Movil saw its growth slow in the first quarter, due to negative currency effects and the increased regulation in its home market.

Revenues were up 1.3 percent from a year ago to MXN 195.4 billion, and EBITDA rose 1.7 percent to MXN 64.9 billion. Excluding forex effects, the figures were up respectively 6.9 and 6.7 percent.

Net profit was hurt by increased financing costs, dropping 48.3 percent to MXN 13.9 billion or MXN 0.20 per share. The company spent MXN 19.1 billion on capital investments in the quarter, while also reducing debt by MXN 2.2 billion, buying back MXN 12.6 billion in shares and acquiring assets for MXN 1.4 billion. Net debt of MXN 440 billion was worth 1.6x annual EBITDA at the end of March.

America Movil finished the quarter with 272.2 million mobile customers, up by 2.3 million from three months earlier. The net additions included 1.4 million from the acquisition of Page Plus in the US and 769,000 new postpaid customers, as well as 980,000 disconnections of inactive customers in Latin America. The number of revenue-generating units in the fixed market rose by 1.2 million in the quarter, of which 571,000 in TV and 492,000 in broadband, to a total 70.7 million at the end of March.