Cable & Wireless reported a loss for the 12 months to March of $3.5 billion from $18.4 billion in revenues, down from revenues of $19 billion in 2013 but the most important news hidden in the figures is a 14 percent increase in revenues in the March quarter compared with the 2013 same quarter. This is the first major increase since the June 2012 quarter versus the 2011 period when revenues hit $4.8 billion. This year’s quarterly increase is only the third such, since calendar year 2010 and is critical when assessing the companies immediate future prospects. The loss reported by the company includes a staff separation cost of $1.5 billion, without this the loss for the year would be $1.9 billion, still large but with the growth in revenues as reflected in the March quarter losses from ongoing operations looks to be headed for oblivion sooner than later. In all likelihood Cable & Wireless should enjoy a profit from ongoing operations in the current year that should flow form cost savings and increased revenues.
The reduction in revenue for the full year flowed from a change in the manner directory income is accounted for with the company moving from the booking of revenues and cost associated with its publication to one in which it only books a franchise income. In addition, the reduction in interconnection rates resulted in lower income charged to customers for termination on other networks resulting in less gross income being booked per minute particularly on landlines calls.
C&W increased the rates for monthly rental charge and business internet services effective at the beginning of April with increases ranging from 12.5 percent for the business flat rate voice plan to 2.44 percent for business internet premier extreme, the simple average increase being 5.85 percent. The growth in revenue experienced for the March quarter which should carry over into succeeding quarters and the increase rates effected in April coupled with the likely cut in cost to flow from the staff restructuring should see the company enjoying improving bottom line numbers going forward. The gains in revenues should see revenues in the $20 billion per annum mark again during the current fiscal year and it should get even better as they now move aggressively to continue to grow the mobile base from the 705,000 as of the end of March to a much higher level, with that, revenues should continue to climb moving net results from the red to black in the not too distant future.
On the negatice side interest cost should rise as local interest rates increase over that of 2014 fiscal year with most of the funding incurring interest at government of Jamaica Treasury bill rates which has risen in recent months over that of last year.
IC Insider still holds the stock as BUY RATED.
C&W Q4 income up 14%
Trackbacks
-
[…] from core business is up 11 percent while expenses are up by a much smaller 5 percent but Cable & Wireless still ended up with a loss of $712 million in the June quarter, this year, better than the $804 […]
-
[…] there more trades that have not been reported, is an obvious question? The situation in the case of Cable & Wireless is most important, in light of the increased interest in the stock since the start of 2014, with […]
-
[…] of trading in the main market, the volume of stocks with gains, and last their traded prices, are Cable & Wireless with 900,941 shares to close with a gain of 4 cents to 40 cents, Caribbean Cement 104,102 shares to […]
-
[…] Cable & Wireless Jamaica (CWJ) trading as Lime, ranked highest in customer satisfaction among all of Jamaica’s utility providers, according to a survey by the Office of Utilities Regulation, OUR CWJ said in a release recently. According to the report the Regulator said 72% of respondents reported that they were satisfied doing business with Cable & Wireless. Among its telecommunications rivals Digicel, Flow and other utility providers, customers gave the company, the highest marks for product quality and accurate billing and placed them on top for customer care that makes them feel valued and respected. “We have consistently put customers at the center of our strategic commercial decision-making and these objective survey results are the just reward for those efforts.” Garfield Sinclair Cable & Wireless CEO stated in response to this latest round positive public perception. Cable & Wireless also received coveted recognition for being the only Telecommunications provider to register a double-digit increase in service quality over the 12-month review period. […]
-
[…] Cable & Wireless Jamaica grew mobile customers with continued momentum from last year, by 37 percent, Cable & Wireless Communications PLC (CWC) said in a press release, in their first quarter interim management statement for the June 2014 quarter. The Jamaican growth, pushed the mobile customers in Jamaica to around 750,000 at June, up from 705,000 at March this year and helped to move mobile subscribers was up 20 percent, for the overall CWC group on like-for-like basis, the statement indicated. “LIME growth was driven by continued strong subscriber additions in Jamaica, where revenue grew 34 percent at constant currency”. Group Trading Performance| CWC said that mobile revenue which now represents 55 percent of Group revenue, was up 4 percent across the Group in the First Quarter, with increases in Cayman of 11 percent, following the successful introduction of LTE services; and in Panama 5 percent, where increased advertising drove mobile data 21 percent. Panama also achieved mobile ARPU growth for the first time in five quarters following increased focus on pricing. Broadband and TV revenue, hampered by slower network speeds, grew only 3 percent and this is a key area where we expect to see improved performance over time as a result of the investments we are making under Project Marlin. The modest growth in Broadband and TV was more than offset by continued decline in fixed voice revenue. Revenue in the B2B/B2G business – Managed Services – was impacted by reduced Government activity in Panama ahead of elections in May, but CWC management say they remain confident that the new management team and organisational focus will come to fruition later in the year. BTC in the Bahamas delivered solid financial performance alongside improved network reliability during the quarter. Upgrade| CWCP said “we have upgraded 126 of our mobile sites in Jamaica since 1 April 2014 and expect to complete our 4G network later this year. The fibre build-out in Cayman is complete with over 11,000 homes passed. In Barbados we have now passed 26,000 homes with high-speed fibre. In Panama we successfully launched Direct-to-Home TV and ‘Movil Cash’ products, and, although it is early in the programme, we are exceeding our sales expectations”. […]
[…] Wireless Jamaica. At the end of March, Cable & Wireless Jamaica (CWJ) stated that they had 705,000 mobile customers. The increase since March, puts active mobile customers at roughly 830,000, by the end of […]