Eircom reported a pre-tax loss of €16 million for the second quarter of the year and said this included a €48 million restructuring charge.
In its first set of results since flotation the company said turnover was 2 per cent lower to June 30th than during the same three-month period in 2003 at €402 million. During a comparable period last year the telecoms provider made a profit of €2 million.
Operating profits dropped by 50 per cent to €17 million. The company spent €48 million on a restructuring which saw 400 staff, or 7 per cent of its workforce leave the company.
Excluding this charge, operating profits nearly doubled to €65 million. eircom said its second-quarter results were in line with its forecasts. EBITDA, before restructuring programme costs and pension amortisation, was up 10 per cent to €156 million.
Sales fell as "access and DSL revenue growth compensates for traffic reductions", it added. The company said it had 73,000 broadband users and that it was confident of reaching its target of 100,000 users by December.
Eircom was taken private in a €3 billion deal in 2001 by the Valentia consortium, which is 70 per cent owned by Irish businessman Mr Tony O'Reilly, Providence Equity Partners and billionaire Mr George Soros.