Digicel’s revenues grow 16pc to US$1.2bn

2 Dec 2011

Digicel, Denis O’Brien’s mobile network in the Caribbean, Central American and Pacific, has notched up revenues of US$1.24bn, up 16pc year-on-year, for the first half of its fiscal year.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) was up 15pc year-on-year to US$524m for the six-month period with the most recent quarter contributing US$270m EBITDA.

The mobile operator has deployed 4G services based on HSPA+ technology across the Cayman Islands and the Dutch Caribbean (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) – with further markets planned.

It also launched its “Cellmoni” mobile money service in Papua New Guinea.

Subscriptions are up 14pc across Digicel’s markets in El Salvador, French West Indies, Haiti, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea and Trinidad and Tobago.

Haiti, in particular, experienced rapid growth, adding 830,000 new subscribers in the first six months of the financial year.

Revenue from value-added services grows

Revenue earned from value-added-services, like web browsing and messaging, was up 47pc year on year, helped by strong demand for smartphones.

Digicel has also signed an agreement to extend and upsize its senior credit facility, which will see $282m new funds committed.

“Our latest set of financial results reflect Digicel’s ongoing strong growth and outperformance of our industry peers,” Digicel Group CEO, Colm Delves, explained.

“I am pleased to report that we have seen growth across the board and are also continuing to diversify our revenue mix with significant increases in value-added services.

“The refinancing of our senior credit facility was well supported and provides us with further balance sheet flexibility,” said Delves.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com