GO has generated €61.12 million in the first six months of the year, a decrease of 4.8 percent over the comparative period last year.
The decrease was in spite of an overall increase in the group’s customers’ connections and services.
In line with forecast, revenue from fixed line voice services declined by €3.2 million - a decline of 12 percent.
Local regulations, which became effective half way through in 2008, adversely affected data services revenue, which declined by six percent, while mobile services declined by three percent because of lower consumer spending, increased competition and aggressive retention offers.
According to the group’s financial statements for the first six months, operating results for the period show a loss of €1.14 million compared to a profit of €1.04 million achieved in the comparative period, after accounting for various significant one-off items namely, voluntary retirement costs (€7.26 million) an impairment loss on non-trade receivables amounting to €2.09 million and a decrease in the provision for pensions amounting to €1.32 million.
After eliminating the effects of these one-off items, the operating activities for the current period returned a profit of €6.89 million (6 months 2008: €13.15 million).
The Group’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and significant one-off items (EBITDA) amounted to €14.88 million, a decrease of 36.3 percent over the comparative period.
Adjusting this result further by eliminating the share of loss made by the jointly-controlled entity, the Group’s EBITDA would amount to €18.61 million, a decrease of 28.5 percent over the comparative period.
After providing for net finance expense amounting to €0.71 million and the group’s share of the results of investment in Forgendo Limited amounting to €3.73 million, the group’s loss before taxation amounted to €5.37 million, compared to a loss of €1.42 in the comparative period to June 30 last year.
The net loss after tax amounted to €5.43 million compared to a net loss of €4.40 million for the six month period to 30 June 2008. The Group’s share of net loss, excluding results attributable to the non-controlling interest, amounted to €5.56 million during the current six-month period.
The group continued to generate free cash flows from its operations, which funds were utilised to acquire new subsidiaries, namely the Bell Med Group, acquire additional tangible fixed assets and further investment in the jointly-controlled entity, Forgendo Limited.
Notwithstanding the reduction in revenue, the group, through its marketing and promotional efforts, managed to mitigate the potential losses in revenue and results. The overall customer connections across all services of the group continued to grow and as at June 30 amounted to almost 465,000 services, an increase of 1.7 percent over the comparative period.
Growth in mobile subscribers continued at a slow rate in line with the market growth and conditions, while growth in TV and broadband continued in line with projections.
However, EU and local roaming regulations have contributed to lower wholesale and retail income per subscriber depressing further the group’s turnover.
The group is moving ahead with its strategy to invest in the upgrade of its networks and launch new technology to enable faster and more reliable connectivity. These investments also allow the group to launch new services and the Group continues to be the leader in voice and data services through both fixed and mobile networks as well as in the provision of digital terrestrial TV services.
The group’s success in retaining and growing its customer base and the anticipated benefits of right-sizing and reorganising the group auger well for improved results in the coming years particularly as the current economic trends improve.
No dividends were declared.