Eircom’s Q2 earnings fall 6% to €361m
Earnings before interest and tax fell by €10m to €119m for the period, despite a 7% improvement in operating costs to €157m.
Commenting on the results, Eircom Group CEO Herb Hribar, said: “The business continues to perform in line with expectations as we make progress to stem our customer losses, revenue decline and profitability erosion.
“I am delighted to announce that we are expanding the reach of what will be Ireland’s largest fibre network from one million to 1.2 million homes and businesses. This incorporates a further additional 78 communities throughout the country and when completed, will provide high-speed broadband connections to 60% of homes and businesses in Ireland.”
The Irish Examiner reported on Tuesday that Eircom will look to raise €500m through a high-yield corporate bond this year. The company emerged from examinership last June, which wiped €1.8bn off of its debt pile — leaving it with €2.3bn in debt.
The firm struggles to increase its market share amid fierce competition. In the fixed-line market, Eircom saw a 7% drop in revenues and a 12% drop in EBITA for the second quarter. However, retail broadband customers grew by 2,000 to 461,000 customers. Its public switched telephone network fell by 15,000 to 964,000 customers.
“The fibre broadband network has already passed more than 230,000 premises and high-speed broadband services will launch later this spring. We will also trial high-speed 4G data services in the coming months and anticipate a commercial offering this summer,” added Mr Hribar.
“Operating costs have reduced in the first half of the financial year and we have made solid progress to reach our two-year goal to reduce staff levels by 2,000. By next week, more than 600 staff will have left the business during this financial year, and we remain fully committed to our cost-reduction targets.”
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