GO plc - Full-Year Results

On 10 March, GO plc published its financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2014.

Performance Overview

During the year under review, the Group’s revenues were relatively unchanged at €122.3 million as the income growth generated from retail activities compensated for the decline in turnover from wholesale activities with the latter being a direct consequence of regulatory intervention. The preliminary results announcement also indicated that whilst retail revenue from legacy fixed voice services continued to decline, GO experienced growth in all other retail sectors, especially mobile.

On the expenditure side, GO reported an aggregate 3.1% reduction to €100.3 million across cost of sales, administrative expenses and other operating costs but excluding unusual items. The reduction reflected lower wholesale costs (due to regulatory intervention) as well as continued focus on managing costs without compromising on customer experience. Excluding the depreciation and amortisation figures, the Group’s normalised (excluding unusual items) earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) amounted to €49.2 million up from €48.4 million in the previous financial year. Similarly, the normalised EBITDA margin improved to 40.2% compared to 39.6% in 2013.

After accounting for €2.6 million in unusual items (details of which will be disclosed in the Annual Report), the Group’s EBITDA for 2014 amounted to €46.6 million, 2.1% higher than the previous comparable figure.

Net interest costs dropped by 17.9% to €1.9 million largely reflecting a lower level of bank borrowings as the Group repaid €14.8 million worth of bank loans during 2014.

Overall, given the stable revenue figure and lower costs, the Group’s pre-tax profit improved by 30% to €20.3 million. After accounting for a tax charge of €5.7 million (marginal tax rate of 28.1%), GO’s net profit amounted to €14.6 million representing a 24.5% increase from the previous year’s comparable figure. The earnings per share improved to 14c4 from 11c6 in 2013.

The Statement of Financial Position shows a 4.7% drop in total assets to €223.9 million largely reflecting the 58.9% drop in the Group’s cash balances to €12.5 million. The drop in cash balances was mainly due to the aforementioned repayment of €14.8 million in bank loans as the cash generated from operations was more than enough to cover the investment requirements including €20.1 million in the upgrade of various networks and launching new technologies, a €6 million equity injection in its indirect investment in Forthnet as well as a €4.5 million loan to Cablenet Systems Ltd (the Cypriot telecoms operator in which GO has a 25% shareholding with the potential of increasing its shareholding up to 51%). This was also the main reason for the 13.4% decline in total liabilities to €113.8 million. Overall, shareholders’ funds grew by 6.3% to €110 million reflecting the profit registered during the period under review. This translates into a net asset value per share of €1.086 (2013: €1.022).

Given the improved profit levels, the post-tax return on equity of GO increased by 2.24 percentage points to 13.7% and the post-tax return on assets increased by 1.4 percentage points to 6.4%.

Dividend

The Directors declared an unchanged final net dividend of €0.07 per share to all shareholders as at the close of trading on 30 March. This dividend will be paid on 8 May subject to shareholder approval at the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled to be held on 5 May.

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GO plc – Preliminary Statement of Group Results for the financial year ended 31 December 2014.