NEW YORK-Australia’s Optus Communications, a multiservice carrier, announced fiscal year-end results Aug. 31 that showed significant declines in operating losses compared with the prior year.
Optus closed out Fiscal 1998, ended June 30, with 1.7 million wireless telephony customers, of which 158,000 were net new additions during the year. The company’s share of Australia’s mobile wireless telecommunications market was 30 percent at year-end, down 2 percentage points from its 32-percent share at the end of Fiscal Years 1996 and 1997.
Earnings before taxes and “abnormal items” produced a full-year loss of $23.88 million, well below last year’s loss of $135.7 million.
Optus’ earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, which it called “the most useful measure for a telecommunications carrier,” increased by 88 percent to $465.4 million from $247 million.
Chris Anderson, chief executive, said the company’s improved performance was based on continuing double-digit revenue growth, improving margins and ongoing cost reductions.
“Operating costs were up by only 2 percent last year, while revenues were up 17 percent,” he said.
“Staff costs have been cut from 18 percent to 12 percent of operating revenues in a year.”
Optus’ mobile communications services business, which provided $763.1 million, or 46 percent, of the carrier’s sales revenues, increased by 16 percent for the fiscal year.
“The 16-percent increase in mobile service revenue is an indication of our focus on quality revenue streams in all of our customer segments,” Anderson said.
Optus has created a new and separate unit for its wireless telecommunications business in order to develop and drive growth, he added.
“The company’s future strategy to maintain growth in the new mobile division includes a major network expansion program, which will see a further 1,200 base stations added over the next two years,” the chief executive said.
“This will enable us to take advantage of recent strong analog-to-digital migration trends, which will become increasingly important in 1999 with the imminent closure of the Advanced Mobile Phone Service network in most areas.”
Optus’ digital wireless technology choice is Global System for Mobile communications.
Optus also has a mobile equipment line item in its profit and loss statement. That area provided $30.87 million in sales revenues last fiscal year, down from $33.2 million in Fiscal 1997 and $75.14 million for Fiscal 1996.
