Eircom first quarter revenues fall 5 per cent to €315 million

Eircom has reported a 5 per cent fall in revenue for the three months to the end of March, as a result of the winter storms, which led to network repair costs of €10 million.

Revenue for the quarter was €315 million, while revenue for the nine months ended March 31 was €972 million, down 6 per cent on the same period last year.

Operating costs for the quarter, which included €10 million of one-off network repair costs as a result of unprecedented storms, were €206 million, down €6 million or 2 per cent on last year.

Operating costs for the nine months to the end of March declined €54 million or 8 per cent to €630 million.

The group generated underlying EBITDA of €119 million for the quarter to 31 March 2014, broadly in line with expectations and the prior year.

Eircom chief executive Herb Hribar said the company's third quarter and ninemonth results highlight continued stabilisation in its underlying bottom line and progress on cost reduction.

“However, due to a series of unprecedented storms during January and February, we incurred €10 million in one-off costs to repair faults on our network that reduced our reported EBITDA during the quarter,” he added.

Eircom said it is one of the first operators in Europe to deploy vectoring technology, which it did last quarter, enabling broadband speeds of up to 100Mb/s.

The company said its fibre footprint had surpassed 800,000 homes and businesses by the end of March, adding it is on track to pass 1,000,000 premises this summer.