GO plc on Friday (today) announced that it registered €14.3 million pre-tax profit during the first six months of 2024 (H1 2024), representing a decrease of 4.9 per cent over the same period in 2023 (H1 2023: €15.1 million).
The figures were revealed in the group’s interim report for the six months ended 30th June 2024.
During the reporting period, GO recorded €113.5 million in revenue, marking a drop of €6.9 million from the €120.5 million registered in H1 2023.
The group stated that this reflects an anticipated reduction in hardware sales of mobile devices, telecoms equipment and specialised technical solutions for enterprises of €10.2 million, which was compensated by an increase in recurring service revenues of €3.3 million.
This drop in hardware sales also prompted a decrease in cost of sales, going down to €71.4 million in H1 2024 (H1 2023: €78.2 million).
GO stated that while the telecommunications segment is highly competitive, both technologically and marketwise, it “continued to perform in line with the previous year’s results at both GO and Cablenet.”
BMIT Technologies’ revenue from data centre, cloud, and managed services reporting segment remained stable, yet there was a noticeable increase in demand for cloud services, resulting in a 14 per cent increase in revenue from such services. However, these services yield lower profit margins due to their associated costs and pricing structures.
The newly acquired subsidiaries, SENS and Cybersift, made a positive contribution to revenue growth, collectively boost revenue by around €300,000.
The group’s administrative and other expenses saw a slight increase of €1.5 million to €27.5 million (H1 2023: €26 million). GO partially attributed this to record-high cost-of-living adjustments and one-off payments related to voluntary retirement schemes.
Following its partial exit from Airalo, a GO Ventures investment, in 2023, the group then sold additional shares during H1 2024, prompting a profit of €1.7 million in 2024. In total, the partial exit from Airalo yielded a return of €2 million, a 20-time return on investment.
As at the end of the reporting period, GO’s total assets stood at €410.8 million, representing a decrease from the €458.7 million position reported at the end of 2023. During the period under review, GO repaid bank loans amounting to €8.6 million and paid dividends totalling €22.3 million.
The Board of Directors has approved the payment of an interim dividend of €0.05 per share, net of taxation. This will amount to a total sum of €5.1 million.
The interim dividend will be paid on 30th August 2024 to all shareholders who appear on the shareholders’ register on 16th August 2024.
Commenting on the results, GO CEO Nikhil Patil said that over the past six months, “GO remained committed to its purpose of driving a digital Malta where no one is left behind.”
“We accelerated the deployment of our True Fibre network, successfully connecting over 35,000 new homes, which increased the percentage of homes passed from 78.5 per cent at the end of 2023 to 87 per cent,” he continued.
Mr Patil added that the network rollout is anticipated to be completed by the end of the 2024 financial year.
The True Fibre project first started in 2016. By the end of the eight-year project, GO had stated that it aimed to invest over €100 million in broadband speeds to “future proof” homes and communities for the next century.
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