O2 total revenue for the full financial year of 2017 rose 2.2 per cent to £5.728 billion despite customer base dropping.
The operator stated the increase was on the back of higher handset revenue, stronger mobile services revenue trends. Non-mobile revenue also played a factor such as smart metering and ICT solutions. Total mobile base now stands at 25 million (down from 25.5 million year-on-year) in the UK of which 12.9 million are 4G.
Adding customer bases from MVNOs: Tesco Mobile, Sky Mobile, and Lycamobile – O2’s base reaches 32.2 million, the operator claims to be the biggest operator with the additions. Churn for the operator is at one per cent for the year and quarter.
Total revenue for Q4 reached £1.533 billion a 3.2 per cent year-on-year increase. Mobile service revenue is also up one per cent for the year (1.1 per cent for Q4) due to higher subscription revenues and further growth in its MVNO business, despite “year-on-year impact of roaming regulation”.
The operator reported significant B2B contract wins including Amey, Tesco Bank, Next, Mercedes Benz and The Home Office.
Capital expenditure totalled £724 million for the year (£198m in Q4) as the company continues its investment into its network. It claims to spend £2 million per week on network upgrades.
O2 CEO Mark Evans said: “In 2017 we launched a number of new, exciting propositions, made long term commitments to our customer led sponsorships and continued to invest significant sums in our network. As a result, we maintained our position as the UK mobile operator with the highest customer loyalty and satisfaction.
“Looking forward, we will continue to build for our future by doing more and investing more for the benefit of our customers. Our efforts are driven by the belief that mobile is one of the biggest opportunities this country has to strengthen its economy and support society at large. We’re proud to be its biggest champion.”
