Telefónica will have its “day D” in November. The Teleco plays its future with Murtra behind the wheel

Almost nine months Murtra as president of Telefónica. What lasts a pregnancy, which lasts a course. On November 4 will be born its strategic plan and Marc will have its final exam. That day will present the master lines that will define the direction of the centenary telecus for the coming years.

The date is not accidental, it coincides with the results of the third quarter. Perfect occasion to combine the figures of the present with the promises of the future. And after that staging there is a company that is played much more than its next investment cycle.

The scenario of the arrival to power of Murtra is, above all, a paradox:

• He inherited a financially sanitized telephone: Pallete reduced debt in half.
• But also a telephone punished by the market: the action lost 57% of its value in the previous era.

The balance says the company is better. The stock market says that investors do not believe it. The market seeks growth stories, not survival. This contradiction defines the challenge of the Catalan engineer: it is not enough to be right in the accounts, we must convince those who move the silver.

Speaking of silverMurtra’s great movement in his first months is the execution of The fastest exit of Latin America In the history of Telefónica. Argentina, sold. Peru, liquidated –not to say-. Colombia, more of the same. Mexico, with the “sell” poster.

And at the same time, he has placed Europe at the center of his board with An aggressive discourse on consolidation. He talks about creating a “European champion” while he has in the spotlight, says the Rumore Rumoreto Vodafone Spain. With 1 & 1 in Germany in the bedroom.

Is The commitment of who understands that there is no middle ground: o Telefónica grows based on acquisitions, or becomes a prey to more ambitious ones. And it has lost more than 80% of its value from its historical maximums, so it is no longer so inaccessible by price.

On November 4 he will say if this strategy has a financial muscle behind or stays in speech. Local operators They have already raised the voice Against its concentration plan, Brussels has begun to leave behind its historical misgivings on mergers although the verdict remains an unknown, and the market expects to see concrete figures on where the billions that will cost these operations will come out.

Murtra faces The question that defines all the great executives: Is it a visionary or a volunteer? In two months we will know.

In Xataka | 100 years after his birth, Telefónica faces the greatest existential dilemma in its history: what wants to be older

Outstanding image | Telefónica