Ireland’s largest full-service telco Eircom Group (including Meteor Mobile / eMobile) has posted its first year-on-year quarterly revenue growth in seven years, driven by both fixed and mobile segment performance. In the three months ended 30 June 2015 (Eircom’s fiscal fourth quarter) the group reported revenue of EUR325 million (USD364.6 million), up 5% y-o-y, with EBITDA of EUR135 million, up 12% y-o-y as operating costs shrank 5%. It also reported that its fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) broadband footprint now passes 1.3 million premises, and is set to reach 1.9 million FTTC-fed premises by 2020 (over 80% of Irish households), driven by EUR290 million investment over the full financial year, as part of more than EUR1 billion invested over the past three years.
Commenting on the results, Eircom CEO Richard Moat said: ‘This has been a transformative year in the financial and operational performance of the group … the result of implementing a consistent strategy over the past three years centered on network investment that has provided much improved product capability and compelling propositions to all our customer segments. 25% of customers now avail of our TV or mobile bundles and we remain the only operator in the market to offer a quad play of services. EBITDA for the full year was EUR481 million, an increase of 3%, driven by improving revenue performance and sustained cost reductions. Year-on-year mobile EBITDA growth of 62% and encouraging TV uptake were key contributors to the overall EBITDA growth.’
Mr Moat also told Reuters that there are no plans at the moment to re-examine an initial public offering (IPO) for Eircom, saying that such plans are not even on the corporate radar at present. The CEO added that he wants to see further quarters of revenue growth before the possibility of an IPO will resurface. He confirmed there are no ongoing talks regarding a possible sale of the company following a rejected takeover bid in May.