The continued adoption of smartphones and the rise in mobile data traffic helped lift Cable & Wireless's half-year performance. Indeed, mobile data revenues surged 94 per cent in the period and now account for 7 per cent of group sales. Chief executive Tony Rice expects this rising trend to continue in the second half, too, so the group has invested $160m (£100m) in mobile data networks during the period.
Meanwhile, April's $210m acquisition of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) injected some sunshine into the group's ailing Caribbean business – Caribbean sales rose 44 per cent to $576m. Although strip out the impact of BTC and sales from the region would have slipped to $399m, from $401m. Growing iPhone popularity in Macau lifted sales there to $258m, from $172m last year, while mobile revenues almost doubled to $151m. Revenues generated in Panama also ticked up by 5 per cent to $308m, while sales in Monaco & Islands grew 2 per cent to $300m, despite currency devaluations in the Maldives.
Continued market turbulence, however, has widened the pensions deficit to £78m, from last year's £51m. Investec Securities expects adjusted full-year pre-tax profit of $384.7m, giving adjusted EPS of 6¢ (from $446m and 6.8¢).
CABLE & WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS (CWC) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
ORD PRICE: | 42p | MARKET VALUE: | £1.06bn | |
TOUCH: | 41-42p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 55p | LOW: 30p |
DIVIDEND YIELD: | 11.9% | PE RATIO: | 11 | |
NET ASSET VALUE: | 6¢* | NET DEBT: | $1.4bn |
Half-year to 30 Sep | Turnover ($bn) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | 1.16 | 210 | 3.30 | 2.67 |
2011 | 1.44 | 145 | 2.10 | 2.67 |
% change | +24 | -31 | -36 | – |
Ex-div: 9 Nov Payment: 12 Jan *Includes intangible assets of $564m, or 22¢ a share £1 = $1.60 |