iiNet now has 1.3 subscriber services – cementing its No.2 DSL position.
And the ISP have also put up to top dog Telstra, saying “we achieved our strategic goal of becoming the leading challenger brand.”
Its revenue for the second half of last year grew by a phenomenal 45 per cent to $330 million, said CEO Michael Malone, up from $228.1 million and net profit after tax soared 16% to $17.2 million.
Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were up 25 per cent to $46.8 million.
“iiNet’s strategy, focused on retaining profitable customers, expanding its product offering and achieving scale, differentiated us from other Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and underpinned our growth, ” Mr Malone said.
Underlying EPS up 15% to 11.3 cents per share compared to 10: 9.8 c for the previous six month period.
Broadband customers were also up 20 per cent to 650,000 from 30 June 2010 due to “continued organic growth and the acquisition of AAPT’s Consumer Division in September 2010”.
They also attributed the rising subscriber services, which now stands at 1.3 million to the acquisition of fetchtv, as well as well received broadband packages offered to consumers including new Terabyte plans and BoB Lite.
Interim dividend also increased 2 c – to 5 cents per share fully franked.
Mr Malone said that the results reflected the strong underlying fundamentals of iiNet’s business.
“Over the past six months, iiNet has experienced continued growth in its subscribers, even during a period of increased competition, with more than 7,000 additional broadband subscribers added in the half.
“In a more highly competitive environment, it’s very important that we’re able to retain customers and maintain our low churn levels. I am very pleased with the fact that our customer service levels continued to remain above our global best practice benchmark.
The ISP has also launched a campaign to reinforce its position as the second largest DSL provider in Australia, launching a new “No. 2 DSL” campaign.
With regards the looming NBN roll out, the CEO said:
“We now have greater clarity around the National Broadband Network, and the rollout is now commencing.
“The NBN will increase the market opportunities for iiNet providing us with nationwide customer access, the potential for lower churn due to relocations, and a larger serviceable market.
“iiNet is NBN ready and ideally positioned for the change.
The ISP also said they were on track to achieve full year EBITDA guidance of $106 million.
