MANX.L Regulatory News (MANX)

 12 January 2018

Manx Telecom Plc

Pre-Close Trading Update

Manx Telecom Plc (AIM: MANX; the "Company" or "Group"), the leading communication solutions provider on the Isle of Man, is pleased to announce its pre-close trading update for the full year to 31 December 2017.

The Board confirms that trading during 2017 was in line with management expectations, with strong underlying cash flow continuing to support our progressive dividend policy. Both underlying EBITDA and underlying FCF returned to solid growth in the second half of the financial year.

The Company's core domestic business was stable during the year. High speed broadband services are available to 93% of customer premises on the island and coverage is expected to grow further as the Company continues to invest in its network. Take up of high speed broadband continues to increase, with 52% of our broadband customer base now on VDSL or VDSL+, up from 40% at the end of December 2016, whilst we are encouraged by our early stage progress with regards to our FTTP ('Fibre to the Premise') rollout. As expected, fixed voice saw moderate decline for the 12-month period, whilst mobile performed solidly for the year as a whole.

As previously communicated, Group revenue for the year has been impacted by the consolidation of customers in our data centre business, which occurred during 2016, and the rescheduling of the directories publication. These effects have been partially offset by continued strong growth in Global Solutions and some recovery in data centre revenues in the second half of 2017, resulting in broadly flat Group revenues year on year.

Cash performance was particularly strong in H2, aided by tight control of working capital and capital expenditure, resulting in closing net debt being lower than market expectations. This cash performance has triggered provision for incentive payments which will result in a moderately lower underlying EBITDA than last year.

Progress at Vannin Ventures, our business incubator, has been encouraging, and we remain particularly excited by the medium-term growth opportunity represented by Goshawk Communications, in which we took a majority stake during 2017.

The execution of the transformation programme which was launched in October 2016, remains on track. As previously communicated, we will continue to incur some exceptional costs in 2018, with the associated benefits starting to accrue in 2018. A more detailed update on the programme will be provided in the full year results.

Preliminary results for the 12 months to 31 December 2017 will be announced on 15 March 2018.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/ 2014.

About Manx Telecom

· Manx Telecom is the leading communication solutions provider on the Isle of Man, offering a wide range of fixed line, broadband, mobile, and data centre services to businesses, consumers and the public sector on the Isle of Man as well as a growing portfolio of innovative hosting and "Smart SIM" solutions to off-Island customers.

· Manx Telecom has a record of innovation, being the first European operator to launch a 3G mobile service and the first in the world to launch a 3.5G mobile service. 4G service launched in the summer of 2014, and it is now available to contract and pre-pay customers with 99% population coverage. The Company's high speed VDSL broadband service (Ultima) is available to 93 per cent of homes on the Island. A VDSL Plus service launched in February 2015.

· The Company has three data centres (two of which are Tier 3 designed) plus international connectivity and its operations are business-critical to the economic strategy of the Isle of Man.

· One of the largest employers on the Island, Manx Telecom employs almost 300 people. The company plays a major role in the wider community through a range of activities, including charitable donations, sponsorships, and corporate social responsibility initiatives.

· The company is proud to sponsor the Manx Telecom Parish Walk, Tough Mann Adventure Challenge, Manx Telecom End2End Mountain Bike Challenge, Team Manx Telecom (Manx Road Club), and Royal Manx Agricultural Show as well as other smaller events. Manx Telecom also donates annually to local causes through the company's "It's our Community" programme.

· The Isle of Man has a resilient and stable economy. Unemployment is low at 1.8 per cent, and there is a zero per cent corporate tax rate which applies to the vast majority of Manx Telecom's business and means that the Group currently pays no corporation tax on its annual profits.

· Manx Telecom is listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange with the ticker MANX.