Revenue at Eircom fell by 3% to €313m in the first three months of its financial year.
Compared to the same period last year mobile revenue was 2% higher, and earnings before tax was €114m, down 6% because of planned investment in subscriber growth. The group reports continued growth in broadband, with 731,000 broadband connections, a rise of 8%.
Eircom's new chief executive Richard Moat says that although the company saw a 3% decline in quarterly revenues year on year, it saw a 1% increase quarter on quarter and two consecutive quarters of growth in its mobile division. The company has now seen nine quarters of earnings stability on the back of some really good customer growth, Mr Moat said, adding that the figures were very encouraging for Eircom. The CEO says that the company's cost reductions have been very important for it and have compensated for the slowing revenues in order to create stability in earnings. Eircom will continue to focus on reducing costs in the future, he added.
On jobs, Mr Moat said that the company is pretty much the size and shape it wants to be as a business. Over 2,000 people have left the company over the last two years and so no significant moves are expected on the jobs front, he added.
In September, Eircom's board and shareholders decided not to proceed with a proposed flotation, and Mr Moat said that decision was vindicated by what happened on equity markets shortly afterwards. He said that while the company might decide to go ahead with an IPO at some point in the future, that decision is some way off. The company is focused on improving the performance of the business and achieving growth, he added.
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MORNING BRIEFS - Police were called to a number of supermarkets in the UK last night, amid concern about the size of crowds waiting for the doors to open on what has become one of the busiest shopping days of the year in the UK. Increasing numbers of British retailers are adopting the American tradition of reducing some of their prices for what is called Black Friday - the day after Thanksgiving. Some websites are already reported to be struggling to cope with demand. The tradition was brought over by online store Amazon four years ago after internet shoppers noticed the US got better deals than European online shoppers. In Ireland we tend to Christmas shop online the most from today until Monday December 1, known as Cyber Monday, the busiest online shopping day of the year. Visa predicts that $74m will be spent online by Irish shoppers this weekend.
*** Social networking firms including Facebook and Twitter are being told to make it clearer to users how they collect and use their data. A report by the UK's Commons Science and Technology Select Committee says the firms' terms and conditions are far too long and complex. The MPs say users may not be aware of how their details can be used by websites and apps. Any reasonable person would struggle with long privacy policies, they add. And it says that the rules have been designed for use in US courtrooms and to protect organisations in the event of legal action rather than to convey information.
*** OPEC decided yesterday that the group would not try to shore up prices by reducing production. After the announcement, Brent crude hit its lowest price since August 2010, falling below $72 a barrel, and the US benchmark dropped to $69.05 a barrel, although business was slow because of the Thanksgiving holiday. The 12 OPEC members decided to maintain production at 30 million barrels a day as first agreed in December 2011. Crude oil prices have fallen 30% since June on sluggish global demand and rising shale production or fracking in the US.
