iTouch pre-tax profits €5.3m in 2004

PRE-TAX profits at iTouch, the mobile phone streamed services provider, hit £3.7m (€5.3m) in 2004 ending the company’s years of cash burn and leaving it sitting on a net cash pile of £13.1m.

Wed, 16 Mar, 2005 - 00:00

Conor Keane, Business Correspondent

iTouch, 34% owned by Tony O’Reilly’s Independent News and Media, reported year-on-year revenues up 29% to £78m (2003: £60.3m), and pre-tax profits of £3.7m, up from £4.9m losses in 2003.

iTouch’s consumer data revenues rose by 229% to £48.6m in the year to the end of December.

Chairman Ivan Fallon said: “This has been a landmark year for the Group which is reflected in another excellent set of financial results. Our main focus has been to acquire and integrate Jippii, leverage our international presence and develop our consumer brands to secure a strong position as one of the leading providers of mobile content in the world.

“We believe we are extremely well positioned to take advantage of the forecast growth in demand for mobile content across Europe and beyond and we approach 2005 with confidence that it will be another year of significant progress for the Group.”

Analysts reacted positively to the strong results which were in line with expectations. Davy Stockbrokers’ Cathal Kenny said: “Overall, the results are positive. In order for the business to achieve a higher rating it needs to start building sustainable brands, a recurring revenue line and a cost leadership position. Progress to date tells us that the business is moving in that direction. Given that iTouch has such a significant market footprint, it is well-positioned for further growth.”

Goodbody’s Neil Clifford remarked that iTouch plans to pursue further corporate activity to improve its position in target markets.

“No mention was made in the results release in relation to recent talks with MonsterMob about its possible acquisition of iTouch which were ultimately unsuccessful,” he pointed out.

CEO Wayne Pitout said the company will continue to look for opportunities to roll out our business model into other countries where conditions are favourable.