Bigblu Broadband PLC Trading Update (1572K)

TIDMBBB

RNS Number : 1572K

Bigblu Broadband PLC

12 December 2018

Bigblu Broadband plc

("BBB" or the "Company" or the "Group")

Trading Update

Bigblu Broadband plc (AIM: BBB.L), a leading provider of alternative fast broadband services, provides a trading update for the Full Year ended 30 November 2018.

The Board is pleased to report that trading in the period was in line with expectations with continued improvement in the Company's key performance indicators including strong revenue growth, improving margins and cash flows.

   --     Total revenue increased c. 25% to c. GBP55m (FY 17: GBP44m) 
   --     Recurring revenue(1) increased c. 27% to c. GBP51m, representing 94% of total revenue 
   --     Like-for-like organic revenue growth on a constant currency basis(2) of 7% 
   --     Continued growth of customer numbers to c. 113K (FY17: 100K) 
   --     Underlying EBITDA(3) increased c. 45% to GBP6.8m (FY17: GBP4.7m) 
   --     Net debt at c. GBP14m as at 30 November 2018 (FY17: GBP13.1m) 

Outlook

During 2018, the Company achieved many of its ambitions stated at the time of IPO including acquiring and integrating several acquisitions, completing the upgrade of superfast broadband technologies and unifying systems and processes across the Group.

As highlighted in the announcement dated 6 December 2018, BBB is also expected to benefit from an increasing number of international satellite partnership opportunities in 2019 and will benefit from new ground-breaking products and services increasing its addressable market while simultaneously reducing the cost of customer acquisition.

The Company enters 2019 rebranded as Bigblu Broadband, with a target of double-digit organic revenue growth for this financial year and beyond whilst maintaining its technology leadership in the sector.

(1) Recurring revenue is defined as revenue generated from the Group's broadband airtime and data contracts which are typically two years or more in duration.

(2) Like-for-like organic revenue growth compares current and prior period revenue treating acquired businesses as if they had been owned for all of both periods on a constant currency basis.

(3) Underlying EBITDA is before share based payments, depreciation, intangible amortisation, acquisition and deal related costs

Andrew Walwyn, CEO of BBB commented, "We are especially pleased with the strong financial performance in 2018 despite our satellite partner's delays to the roll out of products in association with the Eutelsat/Viasat JV that was announced in December 2017. The growth achieved during the period was underpinned by continued customer sign up and improving ARPUs as existing customers upgraded their tariffs.

"In addition, the acquisitions we have completed over the past three years are now making a meaningful contribution to the bottom line as the benefits of being part of a larger group is reflected in their individual financial performances. Completing such a positive year, in which there has been significant operational change, whilst establishing our global hubs, is a real testament to the high quality of the BBB team and represents a significant milestone for the Company.

"We are well placed to take advantage of the considerable growth opportunity in countries that we are already live in where we are working alongside Viasat Europe to drive growth. Looking ahead we will be able to further grow our geographic reach and benefit from continued growth through existing and new agreements, as evidenced by the partnership with Eurobroadband Infrastructure which commenced earlier this month. As such, we now have a similar business model to that conceived in the original JV with customers able to subscribe to 50 Mbps satellite broadband service with 'unlimited' tariffs for a comparable price with fixed line services for the first time.

"I believe that the market for superfast broadband solutions, such as ours, will remain extremely buoyant over the foreseeable future as consumers continue to demand faster and more dynamic broadband services wherever they are located. With this positive market backdrop and our new network partners across Europe, BBB will focus on delivering double-digit profitable growth in 2019."

Contacts:

 
 Bigblu Broadband plc                       www.bbb-plc.com 
 Andrew Walwyn, Chief Executive Officer     Via Walbrook PR 
 
 Numis Securities (Nomad and joint          Tel: [phone] 
  broker) 
 Oliver Hardy (Corporate Advisory) 
 James Black / Jonathan Abbott (Corporate 
  Broking) 
 
 Dowgate Capital (Joint broker)             Tel: [phone] 
 David Poutney 
 James Serjeant 
 
 Walbrook PR (PR advisers)                  Tel: [phone] 
 Paul Cornelius / Nick Rome                 or [e-mail] 
 

About BBB

BigBlu Broadband plc (AIM: BBB), is a leading provider of alternative broadband solutions throughout Europe and Australia. BBB delivers a portfolio of super-fast wireless broadband products for consumers and businesses unserved or underserved by fibre.

The Company has a significant target market with 27m customers in Europe with speeds of under 4 Mb, and a further 1m in Australia who have been identified as only suitable for either satellite or fixed wireless broadband.

High levels of recurring revenue, increasing economies of scale and Government stimulation of the alternative broadband market in many countries provide a solid foundation for significant organic growth as demand for alternative super-fast broadband services increases around the world.

Acquisitive and organic growth have enabled BBB to grow rapidly since inception in 2008 during which time the Company has completed 20 acquisitions across nine different countries. It is extremely well positioned to continue growing as it targets customers that are trapped in the 'digital divide' with limited fibre broadband options.

BBB's range of solutions includes satellite, next generation fixed wireless and 4G/5G delivering between 30 Mbps and 150 Mbps for consumers, and up to 1 Gbps for businesses. It provides customers ongoing services including hardware, pre and post-sale support, installation, billing and warranties whilst offering various tariffs depending on end user requirements.

Importantly, as its core technologies evolve, and cheaper capacity is made available, BBB continues to offer ever-increasing speeds and higher data throughputs to satisfy market demands for 'video-on- demand'. Its alternative broadband offerings present a customer experience that is similar to that offered by wired broadband and the connection can be shared in the normal way with PCs, tablets and smart-phones via a normal wired or wireless router.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact [e-mail] or visit www.rns.com.

END

TSTEFLFFVLFEFBL

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 12, 2018 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)