EE mobile service revenues decline, operating revenues return to growthEE mobile service revenues decline, operating revenues return to growth

EE has announced its H1 results for 2015 which saw the mobile operator mark a return to operating revenue growth for Q2, despite a decline in mobile service revenues year on year.

The mobile operator says its Q2 2015 mobile service revenues sat at £1.38 billion, down from the £1.4bn revenues from the same quarter in 2014. On the whole, operating revenues were up marginally from £1.505bn in Q2 2014 to £1.506bn in 2015; which the telco says is down to the growth in its fixed broadband and M2M businesses, while also seeing a year on year growth of 2.2% for average revenues generated per user. EE said it now sees roughly 62% of mobile users taking up postpaid plans, which generates roughly seven times higher ARPU than its prepaid customer base, which declined by 184,000 users year-on-year.

EE also claimed net 4G subscriber additions of more than 1.5m in Q, with total 4G customers now reaching 10.9m – up from 4.2m in 2014. Apparently, all new connections on EE are now 4G, with nearly 50% of postpaid customers taking up its LTE-A option.

In a statement, the company also said its enterprise services businesses are experience positive levels of growth. “The B2B base continues to grow rapidly at 7% YOY, delivering an increase in data revenues of 7.6%, driven by strong uptake of 4G products and innovative services, including security and compliance products and a new suite of enterprise mobility management tools,” it said.

Olaf Swantee, EE’s CEO, pointed at new services being worked on by the operator as key reasons for a return to operating revenue growth.

“Our established leadership in 4G and key differentiators such as Wi-Fi calling are working well for the business,” he said. “We’re the clear network market leader and this, combined with our strong operational performance, has led to a return to revenue growth while delivering our best ever EBITDA margin. The business continues to focus squarely on improving customer satisfaction and on cross-selling our innovative range of customer and B2B 4G connected products.”