Full-year revenues rise at Virgin Media Ireland

Revenues rose by 3.5 per cent to €465.3 million at Virgin Media Ireland last year, as against €449.4 million a year earlier.

The telecoms group and TV broadcaster had 432,000 fixed-line customers at year-end and 129,000 mobile subscribers. This compares to 435,200 and 119,600 respectively in 2020.

It reported a 1.6 per cent rise in fourth quarter revenue to €125.7 million, driven primarily by continued recovery in the TV advertising market and growth in mobile revenue.

Full-year residential fixed revenue was down 0.3 per cent to €309.4 million with turnover declining 1.9 per cent in the final three months of 2021 to €78.2 per cent.

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Business-to-business revenues slipped 5.1 per cent to €35.3 million with fourth quarter sales falling 2.2 per cent to €9 million, due largely to continued Covid uncertainty.

Mobile subscription turnover jumped 18.6 per cent in the fourth quarter on account of customer growth and increased average revenue per user (ARPU). Sales were up 15.8 per cent year-on-year to €26.4 million.

Net earnings fell to €19.6 million in the fourth quarter but rose to €33.1 million on a full-year basis.

‘Commercial momentum’

"We closed out 2021 with strong commercial momentum, underpinned by our focus on being the number one choice for converged connectivity and entertainment in the Irish market. Despite a highly competitive market, we grew our broadband customer base across the year and continued our momentum in mobile," said chief executive Tony Hanway.

Virgin Media last November announced a €200 million investment in its broadband network. Mr Hanway said the company had “hit the ground running” in terms of the upgrade to full fibre with an initial 9,000 homes passed in the final three months of 2021.

“ Our robust financial and operational performance means we are well positioned to leverage our fibre network investment for long term sustainable growth,” he said.

Virgin Media, which completed a €1 billion refinancing last year, said it had €100 million of undrawn commitments available to borrow at the end of 2021.