Eircom announce financial results
Eircom today announced its quarter and 12 months results for the financial period ending June 30, 2007.
“Once again, the group has delivered strong revenue growth and solid results, both in the quarter and for the 12 months to June 2007, against a backdrop of strong competition in all its markets,” said eircom CEO Rex Comb.
“EBITDA for eircom Group now stands at €655m, an increase of 7% for the year on the back of a strong performance from Meteor. Eircom Group revenue for the year is up by c. €200m, or c. 12%, on the corresponding 12-month period.”
In the fixed-line segment broadband take-up in Ireland continued to grow, with eircom adding 195,000 subscribers during the past 12 months, a 75% increase compared to the prior year.
This brings total DSL and Bitstream subscribers to 455,000 as of June 30. This number had increased to 479,000 by August 16, of which eircom’s retail subscribers accounted for 338,000.
Eircom estimates that broadband penetration has significantly increased in the past six months.
Ireland now stands at 16.2% penetration by population, up from 13% in January, but still well below the estimated current EU average of 18%.
Eircom’s total fixed-line access channels increased by 2% year-on-year, before the growth in DSL lines, although the company’s retail lines fell by 2% during the period.
Meteor’s mobile subscribers have increased by 28% in the year to 875,000 as at June 30. Meteor added 43,000 net subscribers to its base in the quarter to June.
The group has made a provision of c. €157m in these accounts for redundancy costs expected to be incurred over the next three years as part of a planned restructuring of the business and organisation.
Total staff reductions planned over the three-year period are planned at 900, and the company has made progress towards reaching the first year target of 400 voluntary reductions.
In the year to June 2007, eircom spent €369m on capital investment, an increase of more than €100m on 2006.
