Hutchison Telecommunications Australia's H1 loss widens to $131m

Hutchison Telecommunications Australia (HTAL) (ASX: HTA) has reported a $131.3 million loss for its half-year results to 30 June 2012.

Its loss widened since the the first half of 2011, when the company posted a loss of $78.2 million. It announced the HTAL share of Vodafone Hutchison Australia’s total revenue decreased by nine per cent year-on-year (YoY) to $1.03 bn and its service revenue declined by 15.8 per cent YoY to $874.9 million.

Its EBITDA was down 20.5 per cent YoY to $112.0 million.

For the same period last year, its EBITDA was down 36.8 per cent YoY to $140.8 million, decreased service revenue by three per cent YoY to $1.039 billion and poor half year operating margin, down 6.6 per cent YoY to $774 million. The company stated that VHA’s total customer base reduced by 178,000 customers to 6.8 million, including a contracted post-paid customer base.

“These results speak very clearly to a need to refocus on the quality and consistency of the experience we deliver to our customers,” newly appointed VHA CEO, Bill Morrow, said.

VHA also said HTA’s share of its capital expenditure has increased to 22.4 per cent YoY, to $198.4 million but attributed it to its continuing investment in the Vodafone network, having invested more than $1 billion in it. According to the company, its investment in the network is starting to deliver positive momentum and the renewed focus on customer service has contributed to improvements in customer retention.

“Our customers can expect to experience improvements in the network and customer service throughout the remainder of 2012, and we will make further announcements on our 4G (LTE) plans for next year,” Morrow claimed.

Morrow was recently appointed to better align the company with the needs of its customers.

“Despite the operating challenges currently facing the business, we believe the strategy being implemented will return VHA to growth in the future. However, we expect the next 12 months to remain challenging,” HTAL chairman, Canning Fok, said.

More to follow.

• Bookmark this page
• Share this article
  •  
  • facebook
  • slashdot
  • digg
  • Reddit
  • stumbleupon
  • linkedin
  • twitter
• Got more on this story? Email ARN
• Follow ARN on twitter

• Share
  Share this article1

  •  google+
  • facebookfacebook
  • slashdotslashdot
  • diggdigg
  • RedditReddit
  • stumbleuponstumbleupon
  • linkedinlinkedin
  • twittertwitter
• print
• email
• Bookmark