eir announces results for the quarter to 31 December 2021
eir Press Release
Results for the quarter ended 31 December 2021
Dublin, 8 March 2022
Strong results in line with expectations.
Our strategy to build Ireland’s best fibre and mobile networks continues to deliver, with fibre broadband up 4%, postpay mobile up 9%, eir TV up 1%, and multi-play bundling up 3pp year on year.
eir today announced its results for the quarter ended 31 December 2021, which were in line with expectations. The total eir fibre broadband base increased by 4% year on year to 826,000 customers, and the eir postpay mobile base increased by 9% to 891,000 customers, while the eir TV base grew by 1% to 82,000 customers. Multi-play bundling accounted for 40% of eir fixed households, up 3 points year on year.
Reported revenue increased by 11% in the quarter, while adjusted EBITDA grew by 6%, with continued streamlining of the cost base offset by additional costs as a result of the earlier acquisition of Evros. [1]
Latest business updates [2]
- New CEO: eir’s Board appoints Oliver Loomes as new CEO, a successful corporate leader with a 30-year track record in consumer focused companies including Diageo and Mars.
- Fibre Networks Ireland: eir announces a new partnership with InfraVia to establish a new joint venture fibre company to accelerate and expand eir’s FTTH rollout in the coming years.
- 2 million premises passed by Ireland’s largest fibre network, or 86% of premises in Ireland. [3]
746,000 premises now passed with FTTH across Ireland, up 31% or 177,000.
- 826,000 fibre broadband connections, up 4% or 28,000; now totalling 86% of total broadband base.
40% of customers on triple or quad-play bundles, up 3pp.
- 5G network rollout continues to expand, with ultrafast data speeds available in 430 towns and cities across Ireland. Ookla® verifies eir for best 5G and 4G mobile availability in Ireland for Q4 2021.
Quarter trading snapshot 2
Broadband
- 963,000 broadband customers, down 1% or 6,000 YoY.
- Wholesale up 2% or 10,000; retail down 4% or 16,000.
Mobile
- 1.224m total mobile customers, up 3% or 33,000.
- 891,000 postpay customers, up 9% or 76,000.
- 73% of the mobile base is on postpay, up 5pp.
eir TV
- 82,000 eir TV customers, up 1% or 1,000. [4]
Household bundling:
- 83% of fixed consumer households are on bundles with two or more products, up 1pp.
Quarter financial snapshot [5], [6]
- Revenue: €332 million, up 11% or €35m.
- EBITDA: €156 million, up 6% or €9m.
- Operating costs: €100 million, up 8% or €9m. [7]
- Cash on balance sheet: €289 million [8]
Twelve-Month financial snapshot 5, 6
- Revenue: €1.264 billion, up 5% or €62m.
- EBITDA: €632 million, up 5% or €30m.
- Operating costs: €387 million, up 3% or €12m. 7
Oliver Loomes, eir CEO, commented:
“I am inspired by eir’s commitment and ambition to provide Ireland with world-class future-proofed connectivity infrastructure, and I am proud to be leading eir into the next stage of its transformation. We understand the crucial role that eir's technology plays, whether working from home, learning virtually, shopping online, or staying connected with family and friends, the past two years have demonstrated the importance of world-class fixed and mobile network infrastructure. eir's purpose is to connect for a better Ireland, and as we emerge from a prolonged pandemic, it is clear that fast, reliable, and secure connectivity is a necessity in an increasingly digital world. At eir we empower our customers to live, work, and connect wherever they choose, and we do this by providing the leading connectivity products and services in Ireland. We are investing in, transforming, and expanding our fixed and mobile networks, and providing innovative services such as GoMo and eir TV, as well as Ireland’s number one integrated communications and ICT solutions provider, eir evo, enabling the digital transformation of Irish businesses.
“In line with our strategy of building Ireland's best fixed and mobile networks, we recently announced a partnership with InfraVia Capital Partners to establish a new joint venture, Fibre Networks Ireland. Partnering with an experienced growth infrastructure investor, with a successful track-record facilitating fibre deployment across Europe, will enable the acceleration and expansion of our ultrafast fibre-to-the-home broadband rollout to over 1.9 million homes and businesses across Ireland. The investment and expertise provided through this partnership will increase the rollout pace by approximately 25%, with 200,000 premises to be passed this year, increasing to 250,000 premises next year. This partnership approach will see Ireland become one of the most fibre-connected countries in the world, faster than originally planned, solidifying eir’s position as the national market leader in fibre-to-the-home provision across retail, business, and wholesale segments.
“Our mobile network transformation programme, delivering the rollout of Ireland’s largest 5G network, continues at pace, with 5G services now available in over 430 cities, towns, and villages across Ireland. Coupled with the simultaneous upgrade and expansion of our 4G network, eir is strengthening its position as Ireland’s best mobile network, with continued investment achieving further advancements in our network coverage, speed, and reliability. Our continued progress was recently verified by Ookla®, with eir named as having both Ireland’s best 4G and best 5G network availability, as well as being verified as both the most reliable and most consistent 4G network for Q4 2021.
“eir’s history has for decades been intrinsically woven into the fabric of Ireland, continuously evolving and transforming with it. We have been consistently bringing forth technological advancements for the benefit of a changing Ireland, ensuring that as a country we remain not just well connected, but competitive on the international stage. In my role as CEO, I am looking forward to building on past success and leading eir through the next chapter of its transformation as we move towards an increasingly connected future.”
Stephen Tighe, eir CFO, commented:
“Our performance in the quarter to December saw further solid growth, with continued year-on-year increases across our fibre, mobile, and bundled customer bases, coupled with revenue growth in data services and postpay mobile, as well as from the consolidation of Evros and NBP access revenue.
“As Oliver begins his role as CEO, we continue to focus on our strategy and objectives, with our €1 billion national investment programme to roll out Ireland’s best fibre broadband and 5G networks, as well as the expansion of our 4G network and the transformation of our IT stack, all continuing to progress at pace in the quarter.
“We are excited about our new partnership with InfraVia to establish Fibre Networks Ireland, a new joint venture company which will enable an accelerated and expanded rollout of our ultrafast fibre-to-the-home broadband to over 1.9 million homes and businesses in the coming years, and we look forward to progressing further on this programme to enable Ireland to become one of the most connected countries in the world, with eir as a national leader in future-proofed fibre technology.
“As we look ahead, we continue our focus on delivering consistent, solid results, with further growth in our key customer bases, continued business streamlining and optimisation, strong cash generation, and important capital expenditure on our fibre and mobile networks to drive future growth.”
Quarter trading performance
- Revenue of €332m for the quarter to 31 December 2021 increased by 11% or €35m year on year, with growth in data services, postpay and bundling, as well as the addition of revenues from Evros and NBP access, driving the increase in revenue. This was partly offset by a reduction in traditional access, traffic, content, and prepay revenues.
- EBITDA of €156m increased by 6% or €9m year on year.
- Operating costs of €100m increased by 8% or €9m year on year. Non-pay costs increased by 1% or €2m, while pay costs increased by 18% or €7m, driven by the consolidation of Evros costs.
- The Group broadband base totalled 963,000 customers at quarter end, decreasing by 1% or 6,000 year on year, with growth in the wholesale division of 2% or 10,000 customers offset by a decline in retail customers of 4% or 16,000.
- Customers using fibre broadband services totalled 826,000 at quarter end, representing an increase of 4% or 28,000 customers year on year. 86% of the Group’s broadband base is now connected to eir’s fibre network, which represents a 42% penetration of total premises passed with eir fibre broadband.
- The Group mobile base stood at 1.224m customers at quarter end, an increase of 3% or 33,000 year on year. The Group’s postpay base increased by 9% or 76,000 subscribers year on year. Postpay subscribers represent 73% of the total mobile base, an increase of 5 points year on year.
In summary, the Group has delivered solid financial and operational results for the quarter to 31 December 2021, in line with expectations.
ENDS
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About eir
eir is the largest provider of fixed line telecommunications services in Ireland, offering broadband, voice, TV, and data services to residential, small business, enterprise and government segments.
eir is the third largest mobile operator in Ireland in terms of revenue and customers. The company operates the eir mobile and GoMo services.
eir’s wholesale division, open eir, is the largest wholesale telecommunications operator in Ireland, providing products and services to national and international wholesale customers across a range of regulated and unregulated markets.
The Group generated reported revenue of €1.264 billion and adjusted EBITDA of €632 million for the twelve month period to 31 December 2021. [9]
[1] Financials in this document exclude the impact of IFRS 15 and IFRS 16 adjustments.
[2] Movements year on year unless otherwise stated.
[3] Total premises in Ireland is based on an estimated total address points figure of 2.3 million, sourced from GeoDirectory.
[4] eir TV base includes eir Vision subscribers.
[5] Movements year on year unless otherwise stated.
[6] Financials in this document exclude the impact of IFRS 15 and IFRS 16 adjustments.
[7] Operating costs exclude amortisation, depreciation, non-cash pension charge, management charge and exceptional items.
[8] Cash includes 56% share of Tetra joint venture.
[9] Excludes the impact of IFRS 15 and IFRS 16 adjustments.
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