Telecoms company Three Ireland saw its turnover fall slightly last year amid ongoing challenging economic conditions, and losses widened as the wider economic environment remained challenging.
The operator reported a pre-tax loss of just under €36 million, while operating profit almost halved from €45.4 million to €23.8 million as selling and admin costs rose.
Accounts filed by the company for the financial year ended December 31st 2023 showed turnover declined from €620 million in 2022 to €615 million last year.
The telecoms company managed to cut cost of sales, however, from €185 million to €179 million, leading to a slight increase in gross profit of €2 million to €436 million.
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Staff numbers rose during the financial year to 1,353 from 1,273 the previous year. That led to a corresponding increase in staff costs to €105.7 million. The company ended the year with €508 million in net assets.
Like other businesses here, Three Ireland has been hit by surging costs in recent years due to rising global energy prices and increased inflation. That has eased somewhat this year, but costs remain at elevated levels.
The company has also been investing in its infrastructure, upgrading almost 1,300 sites with 5G technology and securing licences in the 5G spectrum auction process. It has invested almost €2 billion in its Irish network since 2015
“Our financial results for 2023 are evidence of a challenging macro environment in which global inflationary pressures, especially in the energy sector, impacted overall company performance,” said chief financial officer Simon Henry.
“Through careful navigation of a cost-reduction strategy that will continue to lower costs in the coming years, as well as the decrease in inflation, we expect a strong outlook for the rest of the year, with H1 2024 results showing solid margin growth alongside customer base growth.”
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