EsatBT revenues up 25% to €173m

TELECOMS firm EsatBT said its revenues rose by 25% in the six months to end September as more consumers and businesses switched their phone services to the British-owned firm.

Esat said revenues were €173 million compared to €138m in the same period in 2003.

Earning before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 12% to €13m.

EsatBT chief executive Bill Murphy said it was a tough six months with competition in both the consumer and corporate ends of the market. But he said Esat made gains in the markets, picking up clients like Bank of Scotland, Barclaycard, Brown Thomas and EDS.

He said the company was satisfied with the revenue growth as prices in the telecoms sector have come down by up to 20% this year.

A number of new companies have entered the Irish market, including UTV, Clubtel, Perlico, Access Telecom and Tele2, promising to undercut the other players.

Mr Murphy said the company has more than 60,000 residential customers, a slight increase on the previous year, though it reported a surge in broadband customers to 20,000.

Esat said there was a reluctance among some Eircom customers to switch supplier, but the launch of single billing meant many consumers were happy to ditch the former State-owned company.

“There is a lot of inertia in the market and we have to constantly innovate the packages we offer to customers.

“When we get a chance to tell our story people are more than willing to change,” Mr Murphy said.

Though profitable at operating level, Mr Murphy confirmed the company had yet to make a pre-tax level, but was on course to do so.

Esat’s owner Britain Telecom yesterday confirmed its profits for the three months to end September were 4% higher than a year ago at £549m (€783m), with underlying turnover up 2% at £4.6 billion. For the six months to end September profits were 4% lower than a year ago at £983m.

Half-year turnover was flat at £9.2bn after accounting for cuts in termination rates. Group chief executive Ben Verwaayen said: “We are winning business across the globe and responding innovatively to an intense competitive environment, particularly in the UK.”