AGM and Q1 Results
Carphone Warehouse Group PLC
28 July 2005
Thursday 28 July 2005
Embargoed until 0700 hours
The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC
First Quarter Trading Update
Group revenues up 23.3%
The Carphone Warehouse, which is holding its AGM today at 11.00 am, announces
its first quarter trading update. Figures relate to the 13 weeks to 2 July
2005.
Distribution
• Retail revenues up 17.0% to £259.2m, 3.1% like-for-like
• Retail gross profit up 17.0%, 3.0% like-for-like
• Total connections up 19.0% to 1.45m
• Subscription connections up 20.4% to 0.72m
• 75 new stores opened, taking the portfolio to 1,536
• Insurance base up 24.0% to 1.70m
Telecoms Services
• Opal revenues up 3.4% to £59.9m; up 17.3% ex premium rate
• 990,000 TalkTalk UK customers; line rental to launch in August
• Mobile customer base up 20.7% to 2.42m
• Strong performance from MVNO operations
Charles Dunstone, Chief Executive Officer, said:
'Progress so far this year has been ahead of our expectations. The mobile
market environment continues to benefit our model and growth in subscription
connections has picked up from the fourth quarter. We have recently hit the one
million customer landmark for TalkTalk in the UK and will be launching our line
rental service in August. Furthermore, our MVNO strategy is beginning to gain
momentum as we identify niche services in a fragmented market.'
Distribution
Total connections grew by 19.0% to 1.45m in the first 13 weeks of the year,
driven by strong demand in all categories. Subscription connections grew by
20.4% to 0.72m and pre-pay connections (including SIM-free) grew by 17.7% to
0.73m. Growth in our Online business was particularly strong, driven in
particular by our continued expansion into the 'off-the-page' market.
Within Retail, revenues grew by 17.0% to £259.2m. Like-for-like revenue growth
was 3.1% and like-for-like gross profit growth was 3.0%. Average gross profit
per connection rose as a result of a strong new subscription mix and a recovery
in pre-pay profitability. We opened 75 net new stores in the period, taking the
total to 1,536, compared to 1,279 at June 2004.
Our Insurance customer base grew by 24.0% year-on-year to 1.70m and Insurance
revenues grew 17.2% to £27.7m. Ongoing revenues grew 14.6% to £13.1m against a
very strong quarter last year, supported by continued good subscription growth
across the group over the last twelve months.
Telecoms Services
Total fixed line revenues increased by 32.8% to £125.0m. Opal revenues grew
3.4% to £59.9m, with growth in non premium rate revenues of 17.3%. Revenue per
minute continued to be depressed by the impact of the mobile termination rate
cuts in September 2004, and also by the continuing competitive environment in
parts of Opal's market. Business traffic switched through the Opal network grew
by 38.7% to 1.69bn minutes.
Total TalkTalk UK revenues were £42.9m, up 86.8% year-on-year. TalkTalk UK had
990,000 tolling customers at the end of the quarter, up from 511,000 at the end
of June 2004. The base has passed the one million customer milestone during
July. During the period we adopted a more selective approach to customer
acquisition, with a focus on the higher quality channels. Monthly contribution
per customer continued to be in line with expectations.
In August we will be launching our own line rental service, thus allowing our
customers to receive a single bill from TalkTalk. We have started to trial our
own internal field sales force and have recently signed up as a partner to the
Nectar loyalty scheme. We expect all of these initiatives to reduce recruitment
and retention costs, while allowing us to continue to pursue an aggressive
customer growth strategy.
Our broadband base grew to 62,000 as we develop and refine the customer
proposition. Broadband is strategically important to both TalkTalk and Opal,
and as the likely longer term regulatory environment becomes clearer as the year
progresses, we will evolve our strategy towards more rapid customer recruitment
and the most effective means of broadband service delivery.
Non-UK TalkTalk revenues, including N Tel, were £15.0m. The base grew to
200,000 from 170,000 at the year end, and we have now launched TalkTalk in
Belgium and Ireland.
Mobile revenues increased by 16.7% to £104.7m. The Phone House Telecom revenues
were up 18.2% year-on-year to £82.6m, reflecting sustained growth in customer
numbers over that period. The customer base grew by 30.5% to 925,000, with the
subscription base growing by 23.7% to 689,000. We have recently reached a
number of new third party distribution agreements that will allow us to continue
to drive further strong base growth.
Other mobile revenues rose by 11.3% to £22.1m. Our FM base in the UK and
France grew by 9.5% to 1.31m. Meanwhile our MVNO base rose by 61.1% to 189,000
as Fresh benefited from our aggressive tariffs, and our two new propositions,
Breizh Mobile and Mobile World, both began to gain traction. We have been very
encouraged by the performance of our MVNO businesses this year and believe that
we will be able to pursue further opportunities in the medium term.
Board changes
As previously announced, David Goldie, Chief Operating Officer, Telecoms, will
today be appointed to the Board as an Executive Director. In addition, we are
pleased to announce the appointment of David Mansfield, Chief Executive of GCap
Media plc, as a new Non-Executive Director, effective from 29 September 2005.
David Ross, Deputy Chairman, has decided to move to a Non-Executive role to
reflect his increasing external business commitments.
The Board is actively engaged in attracting additional Non-Executive Directors
and expects to make further announcements in due course.
Conference call
There will be a conference call for investors and analysts at 9.00 am this
morning. The dial-in numbers are 0845 301 4094 in the UK and +44 20 7081 9482
for international callers. A replay will be available for seven days, for which
the dial-in number is +44 20 7081 9440. The account number is 897311 and the
recording number is 496646. The conference call will also be webcast at
www.cpwplc.com.
Next trading update
The group will issue a first half trading update, covering connections and
customer numbers, on 12 October 2005, and publish its interim results on 3
November 2005.
For Further Information
For analyst and institutional enquiries
Roger Taylor 07715 170 090
Peregrine Riviere 07909 907193
For media enquiries
Vanessa Tipple 07947 000 021
Anthony Carlisle (Citigate Dewe Rogerson) 07973 611 888
020 7638 9571
Operating and Financial Statistics
• Revenues (£000s)
13 weeks to 2 July 2005
2005 2004 % change
Distribution
Retail 259,190 221,534 17.0%
Online 44,745 21,564 107.5%
Insurance 27,661 23,593 17.2%
Ongoing 13,055 11,396 14.6%
Total 344,651 278,087 23.9%
Telecoms Services
Mobile 104,671 89,721 16.7%
Fixed Line 125,042 94,127 32.8%
Total 229,713 183,848 24.9%
Wholesale 34,201 31,186 9.7%
Eliminations (4,904) (3,557) 37.9%
Group Total 603,661 489,564 23.3%
• Like for like data
13 weeks to 2 July 2005
Revenue Gross Profit
Group 3.1% 3.0%
• Connections, mix and store numbers
13 weeks to 2 July 2005
2005 2004 % change
Connections
Subscription 724,216 601,597 20.4%
Pre-pay 620,585 517,915 19.8%
SIM-free 107,477 100,800 6.6%
Group 1,452,278 1,220,312 19.0%
Own stores 1,449 1,246 16.3%
Franchises 87 33 163.6%
Total stores 1,536 1,279 20.1%
• Customer bases
As at 2 July 2005
(000s) 2005 2004 % change
Insurance 1,703 1,374 24.0%
Telecoms Services - Mobile 2,421 2,005 20.7%
TalkTalk UK 990 511 93.7%
Broadband UK 62 - -
TalkTalk non-UK 200 - -
• Switched minutes
13 weeks to 2 July 2005
(m) 2005 2004 % change
Opal 1,692 1,220 38.7%
TalkTalk 1,358 707 92.0%
Total 3,050 1,927 58.2%
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange