VodafoneZiggo recorded solid 2% growth in turnover and a 3% increase in our operating results (EBITDA) for the first quarter of 2021. The company again realised strong financial results in both the consumer and the business markets.
VodafoneZiggo sold 61,000 new mobile postpaid SIM cards in this quarter. An 11% sales growth was achieved in the company's business segment for fixed service, partially due to an increased demand for the smart and hybrid working solutions VodafoneZiggo offers.
“In the first quarter we continued to invest in the Dutch Gigabit society and deliver essential high-speed connectivity and entertainment through our GigaNet. We upgraded all our customers to faster internet speeds at no additional cost, launched SmartWiFi offers to improve the in-home experience, switched off legacy analogue TV, and are on track to offer Gigabit speeds to all customers by 2022. We continued to increase Fixed Mobile Convergence penetration, supporting strong revenue and Adjusted EBITDA growth in the quarter despite an adverse impact from the pandemic. Consequently, we are reconfirming our 2021 full year guidance.”
Network records
According to CFO Ritchy Drost, the new way of working and living highlights the vital importance of digital infrastructure. “Dutch networks are among the best in Europe, both mobile and fixed internet service. VodafoneZiggo's networks have proved excellent in dealing with record use. This is more proof that VodafoneZiggo's strategy is working, namely by continuing to meet the growing needs of consumers and business customers. Now and in the future.”
VodafoneZiggo will continue to invest 19-21% of its revenue in improving the quality of the network and for customer service provision. In order to continually optimise GigaNet, the company will be investing more in the rollout of 1 Gigabit via the fixed network. The expectation is that, by 2022, all customers will be able to use Gigabit speeds. We recently increased the internet speeds of all our customers by an average of 40%. Vodafone offers 5G coverage on the mobile network across the country, with Ericsson as our European partner. In addition, with Ziggo Sport, Ziggo Movies & Series and an exclusive HBO range, the company continues to offer its customers distinctive high-quality entertainment services.
First quarter results
“Customers also remain strongly convinced of the benefits of combining our mobile and fixed networks: the combination of Vodafone and Ziggo", says Drost. In the past quarter, 7,000 new converged households and 29,000 converged SIM cards were added. The mobile side of the business also posted strong results. VodafoneZiggo sold 61,000 new mobile postpaid SIM cards of which 36,000 in B2B. Besides mobile, excellent business was done with Ziggo Zakelijk. There, turnover grew by 11%, partly due to an increasing demand for solutions for smart & hybrid working. As market leader in the field of the Internet of Things (IoT), VodafoneZiggo makes it possible for customers to choose automated and sustainable ways of working. VodafoneZiggo launched the SmartWiFi booster and the SmartWiFi app to strengthen precisely those connections in the home and to help consumers set up their Wi-Fi networks. That our customers appreciate these initiatives is reflected in higher customer satisfaction scores.
Investing in green projects
VodafoneZiggo also recently published its Green Bond Report. The Green Bond Report provides an overview of the progress made in realising "People, Planet, Progress" objectives. The goal of this strategy is to reduce our environmental impact by 50% in 2025 and help two million people make progress in society.“The Green Bond Framework gives us the opportunity to invest in an even more focused way in our ambition to become an increasingly sustainable company. This applies to our daily business operations, but also to the investments that we are continuing to make in our network, so that we can continue connecting Dutch society in a high-quality way and help it to advance further”, says Drost.
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