In their respective half-year results, Three UK has reported a 4% increase in revenue, reaching £1.23bn courtesy of an enhanced active customer base. The net customer service revenue also experienced an 8% boost to £816 million from the previous year’s £754 million. Successfully exploiting new business domains can be credited with a 9% increase in profit margins. Robert Finnegan, CEO of Three UK and Ireland, stated, “I’m proud that we have added to the customer base and delivered an increase in margin.”
However, with operations cost up by 19%, largely due to inflation, the increase in earnings has not kept pace, leading to a 19% reduction in EBITDA to £163 million. While the 5G implementation continues successfully, Finnegan indicates they are on a tipping point, with their EBITDA staying below the capital expenditure, which could be unsustainable.
Meanwhile, Telecom Italia (TIM) has reported a 5.5% profit hike in its second quarter, attributing it largely to a strong performance in Brazil. However, tough pricing competition in Italy over the past decade has nibbled away at TIM’s earnings, leaving them burdened with over €26.1 billion of debt. As a result, TIM is looking to separate and sell off its landline grid, with current bids hovering around €20 billion. “Necessary activities to receive a conclusive binding offer by September 30 are ongoing,” said the company in a statement.
On the other hand, BT Group’s adjusted revenue saw a 4% increase from the previous year, bringing it up to £5.16 billion for the fiscal first quarter. CEO Phillip Jansen affirmed, “We’ve made a strong start to the year, with improved customer satisfaction and pro forma group EBITDA up by 5%.” Notably, BT increased prices by 14.4% earlier this year, similar to many other providers.
In contrast, US chip creator Qualcomm experienced a substantial contraction in both revenue and profits due to reduced consumer spending in relation to slow economic growth. The company is apprehending a similar downturn for the current quarter. Their share price declined by over 9.5% following the report. “We currently expect these actions to consist largely of workforce reductions”, the company noted.
Striking a brighter note, Bharti Airtel, an Indian telco, posted its financial results with a 14.1% year-on-year revenue increase for the April–June quarter. Managing Director Gopal Vittal stated, “Our focus on winning quality customers and driving premiumization has helped us add 5.6 million new 4G customers and the highest ever postpaid customers in any one quarter.” Airtel’s customer base expanded to 528.97 million at the quarter’s close, marking an increase from the previous year’s 495.19 million.
