Cable and Wireless loses $$ from TSTT

Cable & Wireless Communications' revenue from its 49 per cent stake in telecoms provider Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) was down one per cent during CWC's financial year, the company said as it announced results for year ended March 31, 2015 in London Wednesday.

The decrease from US$231 million to US$229 million was a result of a competition intensifying in the region, CWC said. CWC purchased Columbus International (operators of FLOW cable TV) for US$3.025 billion last November.

The deal was completed on March 31 this year.

"As a condition to the regulatory approval for the Columbus acquisition, we are required to divest our 49 per cent stake in TSTT and no longer retain significant influence over its management. Accordingly, our investment in TSTT has been transferred to assets held for sale," the company said in its financial results.

Commenting on the group's results, Phil Bentley, chief executive of CWC said: "This is a transaction that transforms CWC, and is one that will accelerate the delivery of our strategy across the Caribbean and Latin America. Columbus is an outstanding business, backed by a state-of-the-art terrestrial and submarine fibre network. Our complementary fixed line and mobile networks and our focus on providing the best customer service, bringing together the skills and capabilities of over 7,500 team members, will position us better to serve our customers and improve the ICT infrastructure of the communities in which we operate.

We have made good progress in executing our strategy and we are beginning to uncover the full potential of our business. CWC is on the way to becoming a better company-a genuine quad play operator, with strong market shares in the geographically focused and attractive Caribbean and Latin American markets...Overall we are pleased with the results following the first year of our new strategy, but there remains much to do to realise the full potential of the business."

In the 12 months to 31 December 2014, Columbus generated revenue of US$598 million, CWC's results showed.

Bentley pointed out that CWC continued to exercise "cost discipline in all areas of the business (including its services in Jamaica, Panama and The Bahamas) and the initiative to reduce our run-rate operating costs by US$100 million by the end of 2014/15 was achieved with 800 team members exiting the business over the two years in addition to our exiting non-core property assets, and investing to reduce power consumption. As we integrate our business with Columbus's we will look to drive further process efficiencies."

Overall, CWC posted a four per cent rise in revenue, its first top line growth since it demerged from the former Cable & Wireless in 2010, reflecting early results from a US$1 billion (645 million pounds) upgrade of its networks.

In the last set of numbers before it completed the acquisition of Columbus on March 31, the group reported full-year earnings of US$585 million, up seven per cent, on revenue of US$1.75 billion.

Taken from Daily Express