Ahead of the announcement by the Burmese
government next week of the international telecom firms that will be
granted licences to set up two new mobile phone networks, Denis
O’Brien’s telecoms group Digicel has reported a 8 per cent rise in revenues.
Digicel has spent $31 million on its application for a licence in Burma, which it submitted last month.
In
its financial results published yesterday, the company reported a
“strong financial performance” for the year ended March 2013, with
revenues up 8 per cent to $2.78 billion (€2.10 billion). Its earnings
before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) increased
by 11 per cent to $1.2 billion.
Digicel – which operates in 30 markets
throughout the Caribbean, El Salvador and the South Pacific – said its
most recent quarter – January to March – contributed $318 million
Ebitda.
Revenues from value-added services like
web browsing and messaging now accounted for 23 per cent of its overall
revenues, the company added.
ICT/business
solutions revenues increased by 94 per cent and now represented 3 per
cent of services revenues. The company’s subscriber numbers rose by 1
per cent year on year, to 12.9 million across the 30 markets. Digicel
said revenue growth was particularly strong in Haiti, Papua New Guinea,
Trinidad & Tobago and Suriname.
In its last full set of results, the group reported annual revenue growth of 14 per cent and a 13 per cent rise in Ebitda.
Digicel
group chief executive Colm Delves said he was pleased with the
continued growth across its markets and with the customer response to
the 4G network rollout.
He said key achievements
over the last year included the completion of the integration of the
Voila business and network in Haiti and the issuance of S$1.3 billion of
Digicel Group Ltd senior notes, due in 2021 at 6 per cent, with
proceeds being used to refinance existing notes and for general
corporate purposes.
Last month, the Digicel
consortium said it would invest almost $9 billion (€6.9 billion) in a
mobile phone network in Burma if its bid for one of the two highly
sought- after licences in the country was successful.
In
its tender, it promises to employ more than 7,000 people by the end of
the first year and invest $6.6 billion directly in the country. Mobile
penetration in Burma is below 10 per cent among its population of 64
million.
The other shortlisted firms include Qatar Telecom, France Telecom-Orange, Telenor and Viettel Group.
source: Irish Times
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