Revenue declines from such businesses as fixed-line voice largely offset gains made at Cable & Wireless Communications' (CWC) mobile side - leading to a slight overall fall in group revenue at the half-year stage. Still, management says that full-year cash profits are on track to be similar to the previous year's outcome.
Mobile revenue rose 9 per cent to $752m (£470m) in the period, which included a 36 per cent jump in mobile data revenue. Within that, however, the Macau division continued to be the star performer and mobile revenue there jumped 41 per cent to $213m. The soaring popularity of smartphones and data plans helped boost the average revenue per user in Macau, too - $24.4 in the second quarter, compared with $20.9 in 2011's second quarter. The group also cut operating costs by 7 per cent in the period - largely reflecting restructuring at the Caribbean division. However, group broadband revenue was flat, enterprise revenue fell 11 per cent and fixed voice revenue slumped 12 per cent.
Capital expenditure reached $177m and management expects that to rise to $350 for the full year. Broker Cazenove has cut its adjusted full-year EPS estimate from 6.54¢ to 6.51¢ (from 6.5¢).
CABLE & WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS (CWC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 37p | MARKET VALUE: | £935m | |
| TOUCH: | 33.9-37p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 46p | LOW: 27p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 11.3% | PE RATIO: | NA | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | * | NET DEBT: | $1.59bn | |
| Half-year to 30 Sep | Turnover ($bn) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1.44 | 145 | 2.10 | 2.67 |
| 2012 | 1.43 | 164 | 1.70 | 1.33 |
| % change | -1 | +13 | -19 | -50 |
Ex-div: 14 Nov Payment: 11 Jan *Negative equity shareholders' funds £1=$1.596 | ||||
