Esat BT
BT Ireland Posts Record Revenue Growth of 29% in 2004/2005
BT Press Release - Dublin, Thursday May 26th 2005
BT Ireland today announced a strong performance for the full year to the end of March 2005 with turnover growing 29% year on year to €372 million compared to €289 million for the same period last year. EBITDA* increased 13% to €43 million with the company generating its first ever operating profit in the final quarter.
The company delivered this improved profitability through continued top line growth coupled with a continued focus on controlling operating costs which were reduced by a further 4% in the 12 month period.
BT Ireland also highlighted its commitment to unbundle a further 13 eircom exchanges by year end to encourage growth in the market and address the demands for added choice and services to consumers and businesses.
Commenting on the results, Bill Murphy, CEO, BT Ireland said; ‘‘These are record results for BT Ireland and for the second year in a row we have recorded one of the highest revenue growth rates of all the major European BT Group divisions. We have a strong balance sheet, and a solid, focused business which is showing true, sustainable growth. Our continued focus on controlling operational costs has established an excellent platform for future growth.’’
‘‘Our strong performance is underpinned by an unrelenting focus on winning and retaining customers, and our successful drive in delivering competitive broadband packages across the country. We lead the way in delivering innovative, customer-driven packages to Irish consumers and we will continue to concentrate on this core area. We are also totally committed to the further investment in the roll-out of broadband and our recent announcement of a further €100 million investment is testament to this."
The company continues to win significant contracts in the business market, exploiting its key strength as a global player with world-wide reach where it works with 60% of the top 1000 Business and Finance companies and 90% of the ISEQ 20.
Over the course of the last twelve months, BT Ireland secured a host of landmark business contracts which contributed to revenue growth of 35% in the corporate sector over the previous year. These contracts included a number of high profile wins such as AIB, Analog Devices, Bank of Ireland, C&C, Department of Education and Science, EDS GFS, Greencore, Ingersoll-Rand and 02.
With Ireland ranked 27th out of 30 OECD countries in the development of broadband access, Mr. Murphy pointed out that a number of key challenges remain for the industry to overcome. ‘‘The current wholesale broadband model that is in place is clearly deficient in driving the kind of market Ireland needs. We will continue to challenge that model and support Government’s agenda to create a true knowledge economy through the provision of affordable broadband throughout Ireland’’.
Mr. Murphy also announced today that all BT Ireland staff (outside of sales teams) will receive a 13% bonus payment in recognition for having delivered such a strong set of results for the year.
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