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LONDON (Alliance News) - Broadband service provider Bigblu Broadband PLC said on Thursday it saw a widened loss in the first six months of its financial 2018 due to higher costs, despite revenue growth.
Pretax loss for the six months to the end of May was at GBP5.7 million, widened from GBP3.9 million for the same period the year before.
This was due to higher distribution & administration expenses, which came in at GBP6.6 million compared to GBP5.6 million the prior year, and higher acquisition costs related to the acquisition of Open Sky Srl and Sat Internet Services GmbH in May.
Revenue, however, rose by 21% to GBP25.1 million from GBP20.6 million, due to a 37% increase in the total number of customers to 123,000 by the end of the period.
The average revenue per user rose by 1.3% to GBP41.3 from GBP40.8 the year before.
"Looking forward to the remainder of the year, we see plenty of scope to take advantage of global growth opportunities including, but not limited to, expanding across Australia and launching new super-fast satellite broadband services with the European joint venture. Importantly, sales through the European joint venture are already beginning to gain traction through increased marketing," said Chief Executive Officer Andrew Walwyn.
Shares in Bigblu Broadband were up 4.9% at 112.25 pence on Thursday.
