HUTCHISON STILL LOSING

Written by Adam Gosling

Wednesday, 17 August 2005

Hutchison Telecommunications, owner of the Three and Orange networks has reported a net loss for the first half of 2005, but things are looking up for the content-focused carrier. Though the result is a slight improvement on the company’s year ago half, the competition in the mobile phone business in Australia is making it difficult for the company to establish a subscriber share foothold based on its low pricing alone. The company said service revenue for the two businesses (Orange and 3), increased by 73% to $364.4 million, supported by strong growth in non-voice revenue. Average monthly per customer margin grew by 23% to $48. But this wasn’t enough to translate into a profit for the heavily invested company. However, things are improving, the first-half net loss of $305.28 million compares to the previous fiscal year’s first-half net loss of $332.9 million. Furthermore, the company has warned, along with Telstra and Optus, that competitive pressure on call pricing will continue to rise thanks to the increasing popularity of capped phone plans. Hutchison's revenue was up 34.7 per cent to $444.6 million, from $330.1 million in the previous corresponding period. Related news items Chilli iBurst Increases Download Limits -16/09/2007 First Windows 6 Palm In Australia -12/09/2007 Crazy John's To Sell People's Fixed Services -11/07/2007 IDC Paints Picture Of Fierce Mobile Competition -11/07/2007 Puma Promises Lower Power Better Graphics -23/05/2007 Newer news items MOBILE PHONE INDUSTRY EDGES $10 BILLION -13/09/2005 740M MOBILE USERS IN ASIA -13/09/2005 MOBILE LEADERS TO ADDRESS CONFERENCE -12/09/2005 TELSTRA 3G LAUNCHES -04/09/2005 INTEL INVESTS IN UNWIRED -24/08/2005 Older news items THE FUTURE OF MOBILE REVENUE -11/08/2005 US MOBILES OUTSTRIP LANDLINES -10/07/2005 UNWIRED SECURES WiMAX SPECTRUM -08/07/2005 VODAFONE TRIALS 3G -07/07/2005 EMAIL OUTAGE HIGHLIGHTS ARCHITECTURE FLAW -06/07/2005 Tag This Now: