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Broadband retailer TalkTalk Telecom has reported slightly lower revenue, while headline EBITDA grew 9.7% to £260m for the year to 31 March 2020, helped by a reduction in faults and contact centres calls as a result of an increase in more reliable fibre connections and has maintained its dividend.
In its preliminary results for the year to 31 March 2020, the company reported headline revenue (ex-carrier and off-net) of £1,518m during the year, down from £1,544m the previous year, and statutory revenue of £1.6bn, a contraction of 3.9%, mainly due to declining carrier revenue and lower non-headline MVNO revenue as it winds down this business.
Chief executive Tristia Harrison said that based on current trends the company expects to deliver stable headline EBITDA year on year, after assuming a £15m COVID-19 impact and that it would maintain its total 2020 dividend at 2.5p.
The group reported statutory operating profit of £197m for the year, or £202m pre-IFRS 16, up from £47m in the previous financial year.
It saw 'strong' fibre uptake in both consumer and B2B throughout the period, with 78% of new consumer customers taking a Fibre product, compared to 58% in the previous year, and 58% of new partner connections taking fibre, up from 42%.
But the overall broadband base contracted by 69,000 to 4,220k, attributing this to its strategy of growing the fibre base and taking a customer lifetime value approach to base management, which saw some of its low-value legacy copper customers churn, although the base returned to growth in the fourth quarter with 7,000 net additions.
TalkTalk Telecom completed the sale of its Fibre Assets Business to CityFibre for £206m, on 27 March 2020, which had made it a 'more resilient' business.
Harrison said: 'Our FY20 performance has been robust. We have grown our fibre broadband base by 34% and grown our headline EBITDA by 9.7%.
'Whilst industry wide voice usage declines and the continued re-contracting of the legacy copper base has led to some revenue decline, this has been more than made up by ongoing cost reduction and simplification.'