Bloomberg
By Jonathan Browning and Tom Lavell –
Cable & Wireless Communications Plc (CWC) rose the most in 8 1/2 years in London trading as growth at the U.K. phone company’s Caribbean and Macau units pushed increases in fiscal first-half sales and earnings.
Cable & Wireless jumped as much as 19 percent to 43.4 pence, the biggest intraday gain since March 25, 2003, and was up 11 percent as of 11:37 a.m. in London. That pared the stock’s decline this year to 16 percent.
The company “has delivered robust first-half results, ahead of expectations,” including “strong growth” in mobile and data operations, Morten Singleton and Lauren Rowntree- Taylor, London-based analysts at Investec Bank Plc, said today in a report to clients.
Cable & Wireless Communications is sticking to forecasts for the year, and earnings in the six months through September are “indicative of further growth,” Chief Executive Officer Tony Rice said today in an interview. The London-based company will pursue acquisitions in the northern Caribbean following its purchase of Bahamas Telecommunications Co. in April, he said.
First-half earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 4 percent from a year earlier to $443 million as sales jumped 24 percent to $1.44 billion, the company said today in a statement. Revenue growth was led by increases of 44 percent in Caribbean operations and 50 percent in Macau.
The company said that Ebitda this year will total $270 million to $295 million, with an expansion of data operations leading sales gains. It’s keeping the interim dividend at 2.67 cents a share, and aims for a full-year payout of 8 cents.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan Browning in London at jbrowning9@bloomberg.net; Tom Lavell in Frankfurt at tlavell@bloomberg.net
