O2 revenue for its first financial quarter of 2018 saw a 2.9 per cent rise year-on-year to £1.401 billion.
The revenue rise is on the back of higher handset revenues, mobile services, Smart Metering and ICT solutions. Mobile service revenue grew 1.2 per cent year-on-year driven by higher revenue from monthly plans and further growth in its MVNO arms.
OIBDA reached £379 million up 6.1 per cent year-on-year, supported by a reduction in annual licence fee payments for spectrum, while OIBDA margin stands at 27.1 per cent. Capital expenditure reached £161 million for Q1 due to works being carried out to enhance 4G connection. The operator claimed to spend £2 million per day on enhancing coverage.
Customer base, including MVNOs Tesco Mobile, Sky Mobile and Lycamobile, now stands at 32 million. O2 alone holds 25 million customers.
More than half (64 pc) are on monthly contracts with 16,000 added in Q1 (5,000 excluding M2M) , contract base increased 1.2 per cent year-on-year. The operator claimed market leading churn at one per cent for the quarter (excluding M2M).
Recent B2B contract wins include: Sainsbury’s, NHS England and Northumbrian Water.
O2 chief financial officer Patricia Cobian said: “We are growing top and bottom line in a very competitive market while maintaining the highest levels of customer loyalty and satisfaction in our sector.”