LIME Jamaica posts J$6b loss
Published:Friday | May 27, 2011 | 12:00 AM
LIME Jamaica continued to bleed red ink last year, and is reporting losses of J$6 billion after taxes.
The company was hit by a double whammy - reduced revenue, which fell by J$1.2 billion; larger outpayments to other carriers, which rose by J$1.2 billion.
And unlike FY 2010, when the company was able to offset losses with J$2.2 billion of tax credits, in the year ending March 2011, LIME Jamaica was hit with a J$1.59-billion tax bill.
The company reported revenue of J$20.8 billion, reduced operating losses of J$2.6 billion due to lower depreciation charges, and loss of 36 cents per share, relative to 20 cents loss per share at March 2010.
LIME Jamaica, the trading name for Cable and Wireless Jamaica, said the losses were primarily due to "reduced revenues, a one-off cost of sales adjustment and the de-recognition of deferred taxes relating to tax losses."
The company has also signalled that it expects to continue facing headwinds this year, with the pending merger of Claro Jamaica's operation with Digicel Jamaica, which will solidify the latter's dominance over the market in which it already boasts more than two million customers.
The company's managing director, Garfield Sinclair, an investment banker who began running the telecoms last year, said LIME Jamaica grew its active mobile customer base by four per cent and brought innovation to the market with the launch of mobile TV.
Sinclair said the company would be coming to market with new product and services this year to leverage US$15.2 million of investment previously made in the broadband network.