Accounts for Digicel, released to bondholders during the week, show that Denis O'Brien spent $908 million (€659 million) in cash expanding his Caribbean mobile empire in the year to the end of March.

Of this, $235 million was used for capital expenditure and $218 million on acquisitions in French West Indies and El Salvador.

Another $444 million relates to the buyout of minority shareholders in February when O'Brien took full ownership of Digicel.

In addition, subscriber acquisition costs, including the cost of handsets, amounted to $104 million, while it spent another $119 million on its interest payments for its near $2 billion in loans.

It's mind boggling stuff. Thankfully, its revenues were up 53 per cent to just shy of $1 billion, and all of his new markets seem to come up to snuff quickly. Services were launched in Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago last year and both have been "EBITDA positive" since January.