Digicel enjoys profits of €664m

DENIS O’BRIEN’S Caribbean-based telecommunications company, Digicel is eyeing up expansion into the Bahamas and Cuba when those markets become liberalised — after clocking up profits of $954 million (€664m) last year.

The company, now in its tenth year, yesterday reported strong financial growth for its latest financial year, with all metrics rising ahead of expectations.

The profit figure, for the 12 months to the end of March, represented a 27% rise; with group revenues up by the same amount to $2.23 billion.

Digicel now has a presence in 32 countries and saw its subscriber base rise by 6% to 11.5 million people during the year. Its balance sheet and liquidity position has also improved, with cash reserves measured at over $600m at year’s end.

Growth, in the main, came from full-year contributions of acquisitions made in the previous year, the increase in customer numbers and growth in markets such as Haiti and Papua New Guinea.

“It’s been another successful year for Digicel, as we continue to grow our business, introduce innovative new technologies and deliver on our commitments to providing best value, best service and best network,” group chief executive, Colm Delves said.

“We’ve successfully integrated our Caribbean and Pacific operations and expanded our capabilities in the business solutions area and have driven growth in our Caribbean and Pacific markets — especially in Haiti and Papua New Guinea. This — in addition to the improving economic conditions across all our markets — has resulted in robust performance and delivery on all our targets once again,” he added.

Mr Delves said that Digicel still has a lot of organic growth potential, but hasn’t ruled out further acquisition-led growth, even though nothing along those lines is imminent.

Consolidation is rife in the market and many state-owned telecommunications, in markets where Digicel is active, are expected to be divested in the near to medium-term.

“New geographical markets are few and far between, but Cuba will open up sometime down the line and the Bahamas market is due to be liberalised in the next three years and it’s a market we’d like to enter,” Mr Delves added.