First pre-tax profit for mmO2

British mobile phone group mmO2, owner of O2 Ireland, has reported a strong rise in underlying earnings and an increase of 13% in its customers to 19.2 million in the six months to the end of September.

An independent firm for the last two years, mmO2 reported its first pre-tax profit and a drop in debt to £494m (€706m). This is below the debt level passed on by BT when mmO2 floated on the stock market.

First half earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose to £621m (€887.8) in line with analysts' forecasts.

Revenue rose 21% to £2.68bn (€3.83bn).

In Britain the company added a net 315,000 customers and said that average revenue per user rose by 5% to £259 (€370).

Chief executive Peter Erskine said: "In the second half we expect intense competition in our two main markets, but we are aiming to build on what we achieved in the first half, and deliver our full-year growth and margin targets."