WITH BARBADOS AND THE CARIBBEAN continuing to play a pivotal role in its operations, Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) is reporting improved business.
In its third quarter performance report for the period ending December 31, CWC reported revenue of US$595 million, a one per cent increase, while revenue for the first nine months of its financial year was US$1.7 billion, a three per cent increase.
In terms of other performance categories, the group earned US$238 million (a 16 per cent increase) in the third quarter. For its fiscal year to date, its earnings increased by eight per cent to reach US$665 million.
Commenting on the performance, CWC chief executive officer Phil Bentley said the increased earnings in the third quarter were underpinned by cost synergies, and the impact of the Project Marlin investments, which he said “have now passed their peak level”.
So much so that the company’s network is now “delivering better resilience and speeds to our customers and carrying 104 per cent and 42 per cent more traffic on our mobile and fixed networks, respectively, compared to last year”, Bentley said.
“Our strategy is delivering: smartphone take up increased nine percentage points to 50 per cent and drove mobile data revenue growth of 18 per cent against the prior year; in fixed networks, and additional 20 000 homes were passed with high speed connectivity, driving five per cent and seven per cent growth in broadband and video, respectively,” he said.
In the case of the business to business division, he said the telecommunications comapny was “shifting our focus away from one off IT and government projects, towards building ongoing relationships with our customers resulting in monthly recurring revenue growth of four per cent across our markets since the start of the year; and in networks, backhaul capacity for our customers has increased by 24 per cent”
“Overall group year to date like for like revenue growth of three per cent is solid. We continue to transform our business to become the region’s leading quad-play operator, and I am confident that revenue growth will increase, as we build the platform for sustainable, profitable growth in the coming years,” Bentley added. (SC)
