22nd Jan 2015 07:00
For immediate release | 22 January 2015 |
CITYFIBRE INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDINGS PLC
('CityFibre' or the 'Group' or the 'Company')
Trading Update
CityFibre (AIM: CFHL), a leading designer, builder, owner, and operator of fibre optic infrastructure in UK towns and cities, announces the following trading update for the year ended 31 December 2014.
The Board is pleased to confirm that full-year financial results will be in line with current market expectations. CityFibre has successfully converted a number of contract wins in the period, and continues to unlock significant levels of incremental business across its existing asset base.
Key highlights:
· The Joint Venture with Sky and TalkTalk for a Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) trial in York commenced its first phase of deployment in October 2014 and is progressing apace, with commercial launch expected later this year;
· The national framework agreement with Three UK, EE, and MBNL saw the first phase of the Fibre-to-the-Tower (FTTT) deployment in Hull completed before Christmas, on time and on budget;
· The Peterborough CORE network deployment, commenced in April 2014, was completed on time. As at 31 December 2014, 86 of the 106 public sector anchor sites were connected, with the balance anticipated to be connected by the end of February 2015;
· Following a successful business pre-registration programme in Peterborough, as at 31 December 2014, 64 businesses had successfully been converted to contracts with service provider partners, representing a 1.5% penetration of all businesses in Peterborough in a period of only eight months;
· The York CORE network added £0.8m in new total contract value (TCV) in the second half, bringing the total for the year to £1.2m, an increase of 283% versus the prior year. Capex associated with incremental TCV during the period was £0.5m, bringing cumulative TCV/capex on the York network to 124%, from 118% in the first half, and from 113% as at 31 December 2013;
· Pro forma for contracts in-build and announced during the period, the Company's network footprint should extend to 750 route kilometres of local access fibre when completed;
· Business pre-registration campaigns in Coventry, Kirklees, and Aberdeen are demonstrating strong pent-up demand consistent with the experience in Peterborough;
· Reseller/service provider relationships at year end totalled 25, up from 16 as at 30 June 2014;
· Continued progression of pipeline opportunities across all four market verticals, with active discussions ongoing with 25 city councils.
The Company expects to announce its full year results for the year ended 31 December 2014 on Monday 23 March 2015.
Greg Mesch, Chief Executive Officer of CityFibre, commented:
"2014 was a hugely successful year for CityFibre, with four new city project wins, a landmark Fibre-to-the-Home JV with Sky and TalkTalk, two of the UK's leading broadband service providers, a national framework agreement for Fibre-to-the-Tower with two leading mobile network operators, and £46.5m in equity raised. The underlying business continues to perform to plan, with strong incremental contracts being delivered in York, good initial contract conversion in Peterborough, and promising pre-registration levels in our expansion markets. The demand we're seeing in the four market verticals in which we operate is strong across the board. This reflects the compelling need for a fit-for-purpose local access broadband infrastructure capable of serving a market where IP traffic is growing at a compound annual growth rate of more than 20%. We remain strongly capitalised and well-positioned for further growth in 2015, and I look forward to updating the market further in March."
For further information, please contact:
CityFibre Infrastructure Holdings plc | www.cityfibre.com |
Greg Mesch, Chief Executive Officer | Tel: 0845 293 0774 |
Terry Hart, Chief Financial Officer |
|
James Enck, Head of Investor Relations | Tel: 0333 150 6283 |
finnCap (Nomad and Joint Broker) | www.finncap.com |
Stuart Andrews / Christopher Raggett (Corporate Finance) | Tel: 020 7220 0500 |
Simon Johnson (Corporate Broking) |
|
Liberum (Joint Broker) | www.liberum.com |
Steve Pearce / Steven Tredget / Richard Bootle | Tel: 020 3100 2000 |
Vigo Communications | www.vigocomms.com |
Jeremy Garcia / Fiona Henson | Tel: 020 7016 9570 |
About CityFibre:
CityFibre enables gigabit connectivity through designing, building, owning, and operating fibre optic network infrastructure. It is the largest independent provider of fibre infrastructure to mid-sized cities and major towns across the UK, providing gigabit-capable infrastructure for enterprise and public sector organisations, service providers, mobile network operators and businesses.
The Company owns and operates 490 route kilometres of local access networks serving over 800 customer locations in 60 towns and cities in the UK, including York, Coventry, Peterborough, Huddersfield, Hull, Sheffield, Newcastle, Dundee, Bath, Derby and Doncaster.
To date the Company has launched four Gigabit City projects in York, Peterborough, Coventry and Aberdeen, where city-wide pure fibre networks known as 'COREs' bring world-class Internet connectivity and the benefits of gigabit speeds to every aspect of the city's community.
CityFibre is also a proud member of a joint venture with TalkTalk and Sky. Established in early 2014, the collaboration aims to prove the viability of gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) networks and services for homes and businesses. Work is currently underway to connect tens of thousands of homes and businesses in York to a future-proof FTTP modern digital infrastructure.
CityFibre is based in London, United Kingdom, and its shares trade on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange (AIM: CFHL).
To find out more, please visit: www.cityfibre.com
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