Press release

Download full second quarter results press release - PDF version.

Peter Erskine, Chairman & Chief Executive of O2, commented:
“We have continued our strong start to the 2006 financial year in the second quarter and across the O2 group we added almost 800,000 mobile customers, taking the total mobile customer base to 33.588 million, 16% higher than last year.

In the UK, we added 474,000 net new customers, more than double the number added in the second quarter last year, allowing us to raise service revenue guidance for the financial year. We are extremely proud that O2 UK ranked number one for customer satisfaction in pre-pay, post-pay and retail in the JD Power annual survey. This is the first time any operator has been number one in all three areas and demonstrates the success of our Customer Plan.
   
In Germany, we added 236,000 net new customers in the quarter taking the total base to 10.335 million, representing 23% year on year growth. The market is still highly competitive and, coupled with termination rate cuts, contributed to lower ARPU. However, as noted in the first quarter, this trend of declining blended ARPU appears to have stabilised on a monthly basis and we continue to watch the future direction of this trend. Our Tchibo joint-venture continued to perform well adding 63,000 customers.

In the Czech Republic, O2 added 75,000 net new mobile customers, growing its customer base 8% year on year. Contract customers accounted for 36% of the total base at the end of the quarter, compared to only 29% at the end of June 2005, demonstrating the continued success of the pre-pay to contract migration strategy. In our fixed line business, the total number of ADSL lines stood at 386,000 at the end of June, more than double the number last year.

In a competitive market O2 Ireland traded well, adding 13,000 net new contract customers during the quarter, taking the total customer base to 1.599 million, 5% higher than at the same time last year.”

Key performance indicators for the three-month period ended 30 June 2006:

Service revenue (at constant currency):

• O2 UK net service revenue grew by 14.9% year-on-year;
• O2 Germany service revenue grew by 7.8% year-on-year;
• O2 Ireland service revenue grew by 3.3% year-on-year;
• Eurotel service revenue grew by 4.4% year-on-year.

Average revenue per user (12 month rolling ARPU):

• O2 UK blended ARPU £271 (Q1 2006: £269; Q2 2005: £265)
• O2 Germany blended ARPU €308 (Q1 2006: €320; Q2 2005: €350)
• O2 Ireland blended ARPU €551 (Q1 2006: €552; Q2 2005: €549)
• Eurotel ARPU CZK6,083 (Q1 2006: CZK6,127; Q2 2005: CZK6,159)

Mobile Data

• SMS volumes grew by 26% year on year to over 6 billion

Download full second quarter results press release - PDF version.

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