Businessman Denis O'Brien has projected that his Caribbean mobile group Digicel, which has more than two million subscribers, will take in annual revenues of "significantly more" than $1 billion (€823.9 million) by 2010.
At the opening of the Digicel service in Trinidad and Tobago, its 16th market, he said the group had not ruled out a stock market flotation but indicated such a development was not on the immediate horizon. "There isn't a need, but there's certainly nothing to stop us."
Digicel is in advanced discussions to acquire another mobile operator in the Caribbean region and Mr O'Brien said that proposed transaction was one of "a few on the hopper at the moment". He declined to name the current target but said a deal valued at more than $100 million was in due diligence.
The opening of the business in Trinidad and Tobago, one of the wealthiest Caribbean states with a population of 1.3 million, will be followed within the next four weeks with a new service in Haiti, whose population is in excess of eight million.
These openings follow a total investment of some $350 million.
At a briefing for Irish journalists, Digicel chief executive Colm Delves disclosed that Digicel's existing business generated revenues of more than $600 million in the year to the end of March.
This excludes the impact of Digicel's acquisition for $190 million of the Caribbean assets of Bouygues Telecom in March, which is awaiting regulatory clearance in France.
Mr Delves declined to reveal Digicel's operating profits. However, he said the annualised profit margin before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation was in excess of 40 per cent, implying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of more than $240 million.
Some 97 per cent of all Digicel clients have prepaid accounts with the group. The blended average revenue per customer (ARPU) rose in the most recent financial year rose to $27.90 from $26.60 a year earlier.
Mr O'Brien said the group's target was to achieve $1 billion in revenues - with profits - within the next two years.
The group predicts "exponential growth" in the wireless market in the Caribbean in the next five years.
"In the medium term, we can see visibility in all our markets getting to about a billion in revenue and then there's more opportunities. You add in all those other countries that we're working on at the moment, from the business development team from the M&A team, that could be significantly more by 2009, 2010."
Among the markets likely to be targeted by Digicel in the future were the Bahamas, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama.
Mr O'Brien declined to comment the reasons for his expenditure of more than €56 million to build a 3 per cent stake in Independent News & Media. "I've nothing to say."
