Telecoms specialist reports significant rise in 2019 network growth

TalkTalk Telecom Group plc has revealed its half-year results to September 30 2019.

There has been a ‘strong’ growth in the firm’s headline EBITDA and fibre net adds, with an outlook remaining unchanged.

TalkTalk’s fibre net has gone up 52 per cent to £292k, including a supposed record of £174k in Q2, accounting for a 33 per cent share of all new Openreach Fibre to cabinet lines.

Statutory revenue was contracted by 3.6 per cent, said to be mainly due to exiting MVNO operations and declining carrier revenue.

Meanwhile, an increase in net debt was said to be driven by working capital outflows because of a change in distribution model and accelerated Fibre growth, as well as the cost of TalkTalk’s headquarters move and investment in other fields.

Tristia Harrison, TalkTalk’s chief executive, said: “We’re pleased that our clear strategy to accelerate customer growth in Fibre broadband while also reducing costs has led to a significant increase in profitability in the first half, with a 14 per cent year-on-year increase in like-for-like 4 EBITDA.

“We now have over two million customers taking a Fibre product, adding nearly 300,000 customers in the half. Fibre broadband is good news for customers and TalkTalk.

“It offers a faster, more reliable service whilst also reducing churn and comes with a materially lower cost to serve. In addition, our soon to be completed HQ move and shift to a self-service model is underpinning our cost reductions.”

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