COVID-19 hits C&W ‘bottom line’

Despite recording a slight increase in its average monthly subscription, revenue for the quarter ending March 31, 2021, Cable & Wireless (C&W), the company which trades here as FLOW, has recorded an overall loss across its Caribbean operations.

The telecommunications giant witnessed a total decline of US$22.2 million to record total revenue of US$429.8 million at the end of the review period for its C&W Caribbean and Networks operations.

“COVID-19 negatively impacted our operations during 2020 and has continued into the three months ended March 31, 2021, due to resulting lockdowns, moratoriums, cancellation of live sporting events, and mobility, travel, and tourism restrictions across many of the markets in which we operate.

These factors collectively resulted in negative impacts to revenue, particularly within our B2B and mobile operations,” the company said in its financial report.

It said the decline in the B2B (Business to Business) operation was primarily due to lower revenues from mobile and fixed services “partially due to reduced or suspended service across our markets as a result of the COVID-19 lockdowns and lower wholesale call volumes”.

The decrease in residential mobile revenue was due to lower average numbers of mobile subscribers as a result of “COVID-19 impacts, lower average subscription revenue from mobile services as COVID-19 lockdowns and travel restrictions reduced outbound roaming activity and demand for mobile services”.

Meanwhile, it reported that the decrease it experienced in revenue from “residential mobile interconnect, inbound roaming, equipment sales and other” was primarily attributable to “the net effect of an organic decrease in inbound roaming fees, primarily related to travel restrictions associated with COVID-19, an increase in interconnect revenue and lower volumes of handset sales due to the temporary closure or reduced hours of physical stores, as a result of COVID-19-related lockdowns”.

C&W said: “Given the impacts of COVID-19 continue to evolve, the extent to which COVID-19 may further impact our financial condition or results of operations continues to be uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time. “The heightened volatility of global markets resulting from COVID-19 further exposes us to risks and uncertainties.

As COVID-19 continues to spread, we have taken, and expect to continue to take, a variety of measures to promote the safety and security of our employees, and ensure the availability of our communication services,” the company said.
(MM)