AAPT revenues plummet

Stuart Corner
Monday, 16 February 2009 03:04

IT Industry - Market

Telecom NZ has reported a revenue decline of $A69m to $A491m in its Australian subsidiary, AAPT for the half year to 31 December, compared to the prior corresponding half.

Telecom NZ said this was largely the result of a 24 percent drop in consumer services during H1 FY09 when compared to H1 FY08, partially offset by consumer price increases and growth in wholesale, primarily due with a resale customer. In H1 FY09, local service revenue was $A3 million lower when compared to H1 FY08, while calling revenue decreased by $A35 million.

Telecom NZ said these declines were due to the impact of lower consumer service volumes which impacted resale revenue, which declined by $A25 million.

The parent company also took a $NZ68m hit by writing down the goodwill relating to Powertel, acquired by AAPT in May 2007 for $NZ347m. It said that its carrying value was "no longer supported by forecast earnings."

Other operating revenue for H1 FY09 also includes a dividend of $A1 million from iiNet and a one off gain of $A7 million in Q1 FY08 for the sale of AAPT's mobile customer base. AAPT has an exclusive wholesale arrangement to access iiNet's ADSL2+ network, which means it can offer DSL coverage in approximately 330 exchanges across all major Australian cities and large metropolitan areas.

AAPT's EBITDA for the half year was $A31m, down 16 percent on H1 08. For the second quarter EBITDA was up 39 percent on the prior corresponding quarter to $A16m "reflecting the success of cost reduction initiatives."

"The re-pricing of consumer offers is largely complete and we have recommenced legacy system customer migration," said Paul Broad, CEO, AAPT. "To further drive consumer customer acquisitions, we are commencing a targeted door-to-door campaign this month. The rest of the year is expected to see the benefits from our off-shoring initiatives, completion of the re-pricing activities and a focus on on-net and data sales."

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