Eir – the telco formerly known as eircom – announced results for the first quarter ended 30 September 2015 showing revenue of €325 million, representing year-on-year growth of 4%.
Earnings before interest, taxes, drepreciation and amoritisation (EBITDA) for the quarter was €120 million, an increase of 6% compared to 30 September 2014.
Operating costs, excluding non-cash items for the quarter ended 30 September 2015, were €131 million, in line with the prior year period.
In the fixed line segment, revenue for the quarter before intra company eliminations, was €245 million, an increase of 3% year-on-year. Fixed line EBITDA of €105 million was flat, decreasing by €1 million or 1% in the quarter compared to the prior year period.
The total group broadband customer base was 798,000 at 30 September 2015, growing by 16,000 in the quarter and 66,000 in the last 12 months. The retail broadband base was 453,000 at the end of September 2015, with a slight decline in broadband lines in the retail base offset gains in the telco’s wholesale business, which grew by 17,000 during the quarter and 71,000 compared to 30 September 2014, bringing the total wholesale broadband lines to 344,000 lines at the end of September 2015.
A total of 326,000 customers, 41% of the group’s broadband base, were using a fibre-based connection.
In mobile, EBITDA for the quarter grew to €15 million, up from €8 million in the prior year quarter. Mobile revenue was €91 million, 5% higher year-on-year with an EBITDA margin of 17%.
Mobile
The company added 25,000 customers in the last 12 months to the Meteor and eMobile services, which stood at 1,090,000 customers at the end of September. There have been 45,000 net additions in the higher value postpaid segment since 30 September 2014. Ppostpaid customers accounted for 45% of the overall base, up from 41% in the corresponding period last year. The prepaid customer base decreased by 3,000 to 604,000 in the quarter ended 30 September 2015.
Richard Moat, CEO eir, said: “Our investment continues as we build a best in class fixed and mobile network for Ireland. We already deliver high speed broadband to 1.3 million homes and businesses across the country and we continue to enable additional communities as we progress towards our target of reaching 1.9 premises. Take up of fibre broadband continues at pace as we recorded our strongest quarter to date. This has underpinned growth in the total number of broadband customers on our network.
“During the quarter we launched Ireland’s fastest broadband offering speeds of up to 1Gb/s using fibre to the home (FTTH) technology. Beyond that, it is our intention to fully participate in the National Broadband Plan as we share the Government’s vision that everyone in Ireland should have access to high speed broadband.
“The introduction of HD voice services providing improved call clarity on our mobile network, and the launch of our eir Vision Go service that allows customers to watch up to 50 channels on smart devices, demonstrate our focus on product innovation. Our commitment to customer care has been underlined as we became the first operator in Ireland to introduce 24/7 broadband and TV support, and we have made further progress simplifying our processes and operations to control our cost base.”
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