Digicel Group earns US$1bil

DIGICEL Group Ltd, which has a strong presence in Papua New Guinea, yesterday announced earnings of US$1.1 billion for the year ended March 31, 2012.
The company posted Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) of US$1,082 million – up from US$954 million in the previous year – representing a year-on-year increase of 13%.
With subscribers up 27% to 12.8 million and revenues for Digicel (which comprises 30 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific) up 14% to US$2.54 billion, Ebitda margins remained steady at a robust 45%.
Value added services and data revenues were up an impressive 47% year on year and now account for 20% of overall service revenues.
This growth was supported in part by Digicel’s 4G mobile offering which is now available in 14 markets across the globe (with further rollouts planned) and by the rise in smartphone usage.
The diaspora business, meanwhile, saw its revenues grow by 28% year-on-year.
Digicel’s balance sheet and liquidity position has continued to improve with cash reserves of over US$657 million as of March 31, 2012.
The group’s strong financial performance has been endorsed by ratings agency, Fitch, which in May reaffirmed the group’s debt rating citing its “strong operational performance”.
Digicel Group chief executive Colm Delves said: “I am pleased to report that Digicel has closed out another strong year in which, for the first time in our 11 year history, our annual Ebitda was over US$1 billion.
“With 12.8 million subscribers across 30 markets, Digicel has delivered 14% revenue growth placing us at the leading edge of performance amongst telecoms operators worldwide.”
Denis O’Brien, chairman and founder of Digicel Group, said: “The results announced today reflect the continued growth and development of Digicel in the Caribbean, Central America and Asia Pacific.
“The success of Digicel is due to the commitment of a very strong management team and workforce whose sole focus is on the highest standards of service delivery in all markets.”
Key achievements include :
g    Rollout of 4G servi­ces based on HSPA+ technology in 14 markets – Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dutch Caribbean, Fiji, Haiti, PNG, Samoa and Vanuatu;
g    Acquisition of Voila in Haiti and the completion of the acquisition and integration of Claro in Jamaica;
g    Spearheading a US$16 million “Fibralink” extension that will connect Haiti to the global economy through broadband services from July 2012; and
g    Ongoing positive impact on communities by the Digicel Foundations – with a total of US$25 million invested in community projects in Haiti in the five years of the foundation’s existence  and a commitment to building a further 80 schools by the end of next year, in addition to the existing 70 already opened; the completion of 52 projects in the year which have positively impacted over 25,000 people in Jamaica and the funding of 53 infrastructure projects in PNG in the year (more than double the previous year).
Digicel’s investment across its 30 markets worldwide totals US$4.5 billion and the company employs over 4,700 people worldwide.