United Internet, which provides internet access under the brand name 1&1, has announced it generated revenue of EUR498.6 million (USD715 million) in the three months ended 31 March 2011, corresponding to an increase of 7.7% compared to EUR462.8 million in the same period a year earlier. United Internet said that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) remained stable compared to the first quarter of 2010 at EUR90.5 million, while EBIT fell slightly year-on-year from EUR70.7 million to EUR70.3 million in the first quarter of 2011. The company’s internet access segment saw sales rise 6.8% year-on-year to EUR321.2 million, driven by a rise in total customers from 3.5 million at 31 March 2010 to 3.71 million a year later. Of that total, 2.37 million were DSL customers on ‘complete’ packages (up from 1.91 million a year earlier), 370,000 were mobile internet users (90,000) and the remaining 970,000 were narrowband and resold subscribers (down from 1.5 million at the end of March 2010). Meanwhile, the internet access segment saw EBITDA fall 1.9% year-on-year to EUR31.1 million and EBIT drop 5.6% to EUR23.8 million.
Following on from what United Internet called ‘its successful start to the fiscal year’, the firm confirms its forecast for 2011 and expects consolidated sales to exceed EUR2 billion for the first time. Sales growth is expected to reach around 5% in the access segment and around 10% in the applications segment. EBITDA in 2011 is expected to reach the same level as 2010 (EUR357.7 million). The company also aims to add a total of 700,000 new fee-based customer contracts during the year.