Eircom ‘must do more to keep customers’ as revenue falls

Eircom’s management has said the company needs to do more to retain customers and grow profitability on the back of a set of annual results showing further significant decline.

The former state-owned telecommunications company — which has gone through numerous ownership changes in the past 12 years and is currently controlled by a number of its secured lenders — yesterday reported a 10% (€174m) decline in revenue for the 12 months to the end of June, to €1.51bn.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 16% (€104m) to €542m.

Commenting on the figures, Eircom’s current chief executive, Herb Hribar, noted: “The performance of the business continues to decline, but this was in line with our expectations.”

“We must do more to retain our customers, stabilise our revenues and grow our profitability.

“I am determined to execute the business plan, arrest the decline and position the organisation for future growth, so Eircom can remain a vibrant and strategic stakeholder in the Irish corporate landscape,” he added.

“In addition to building greater capability, we must focus on further cost reductions that help us become a modern, agile and customer-centric organisation. The challenges are numerous, but the organisation is working hard to ensure that customers will have a much improved end-to-end experience,” Mr Hribar said.

During the year, Eircom invested a further €400m in its fibre broadband network, which it said will deliver innovative products to its customers.

That customer base now stands at just under 2.1m; slightly down on the previous year after a 5% drop in retail broadband users and a 10% drop in fixed-line customers; although a 4% increase in mobile customers was noted.

In mobile, Eircom still leads the Irish market in the post-pay area, but overall mobile revenues were down in line with the wider market declines. Revenues also fell by 10% in the fixed line division.