GO improves revenues and profitability during first six months of the year

GO plc this week announced improved results for the six-month period to 30 June 2017, with growth in revenue and profitability, as well as robust cash generation. Operating profit increased by 18.8 per cent to €14.6 million (2016: €12.3 million) whilst in the same period, revenue grew by 5.6 per cent to €81 million (2016: €76.7 million). Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) also increased by 9 per cent to €32.6 million (2016: €29.9million).

GO noted that this continued growth in revenue has been driven by strategic investments in both Malta and Cyprus. These significant investments in its networks and support solutions, processes and media content, have continued to improve the customer experience and enhance the Group’s product line-up.

In the Maltese market, the ongoing roll-out of Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) is leading to growth in GO’s Broadband and TV client base, as the reach of FTTH extends to additional towns and villages and now exceeds 50,000 homes. The group also continues to enjoy a solid customer base of fixed-voice connections. In addition, over the past two years GO, with Malta’s only fibre-connected 4G network, has made significant investments in mobile. This enables GO’s mobile customers to enjoy the fastest mobile network, as recently certified by Net Check, an independent German firm that specialises in evaluating the quality of mobile networks. The enhanced customer experience is leading to a larger mobile customer base and growth in usage of mobile data. These investments are matched by ongoing improvements in GO’s product portfolio and customer service. Consequently, the number of customer connections has further increased to over 530,000, a significant proportion through bundled services.

In the business segment, GO continues to lead in providing total communications solutions. Continued investment in Kinetix and a new state of the art data centre that is currently being constructed will further strengthen the group’s infrastructure, which is already unmatched in terms of capabilities, resiliency and redundancy.

In Cyprus, Cablenet continues to invest in expanding its network to reach additional towns and suburbs and to enhance network resiliency and this investment will be stepped up in the coming years. Cablenet’s customer base continues to grow and now exceeds 58,000. As a result, it is also delivering growth in revenue and profitability.

Cost of sales and administration costs amounted to €67 million, an increase of €2.1 million over the comparative period. This increase in costs is primarily related to increased retail activity, whilst maintaining a strong focus on cost containment.

For the period under review the Group is reporting a profit before tax of €13.5 million. Although this represents a reduction over the profit of €17.1 million reported for the comparative period, the reduction is due to the comparative results including an exceptional gain of €6.1 million arising from the re-measurement of the investment in Cablenet following the further acquisition of shares in January 2016.

Cash generation from operations remains strong across the entire Group and amounted to €28.6 million during the period under review. The Group continues to enjoy a healthy financial position. As at 30 June 2017, the Group had a total asset base of €247.6 million, which is 43.2 per cent funded through equity. During the first six months of 2017, borrowings net of cash holdings fell from €64.1 million as at 31 December 2016 to €58.2 million as at 30 June 2017.

GO CEO Attila Keszeg said: “GO is a fantastic company with many great people, all of whom contribute to achieving such positive results. As Malta’s communications services provider, GO will, as it always has done, meet the changing and growing needs of our domestic and business customers by investing in infrastructure, systems and people. GO remains totally committed to Malta and to providing the infrastructure and services the country needs to continue going forward.”

GO Chairman Nizar Bouguila said: “We are naturally satisfied with these positive results across both of our markets in Malta and Cyprus. The fact that our Group’s performance is consistently robust is encouraging. It also validates our clear and focused long-term strategy of investment and technological innovation. Importantly, GO’s positive track record demonstrates that it is indeed possible for a Malta-based telecommunications business to deliver strong value to clients, employees and shareholders whilst also committing to the substantial investments which will enable Malta to keep abreast of the future.”