LIME: Communications PLC Results For The Year Ended

ANNOUNCEMENT 20 MAY 2015

Highlights

CABLE & WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS PLC RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2015

Strong performance and improving platform for growth

  •   Group revenue of US$1.8 billion up 4% reflecting strategic progress
  •   Group EBITDA of US$585 million up 7%; EBITDA margin increased by 1 ppt to 33%
  •   US$100 million cost reduction plan successfully completed; c.800 FTE reductions over two years
  •   US$442 million Project Marlin capex investments have improved network performance
  •   Significant growth in adjusted EPS to US4.7 cents driven by US$55 million lower interest cost
  •   Columbus acquisition completed on 31 March 2015; integration underway
  •   Recommended final dividend per share of US2.67 cents; full year dividend per share of US4 cents (2013/14 US4 cents)

Full year ended US$m 31 March 2015

Revenue 1,753 EBITDA 585 Adjusted earnings per share (US cents) 4.7c

Full year ended 31 March 2014 Change 1,689 4% 546 7% 2.2c 114%

Note: Figures above are for continuing operations, including the Seychelles and excluding Monaco. EBITDA and adjusted earnings per share are defined in the footnotes on page 3 and a reconciliation is provided on page 32

Commenting on the Group results, Phil Bentley, Chief Executive of Cable & Wireless Communications Plc, said:

“2014 was a year of transformation and growth for Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC). We created a new senior executive team operating out of our new Miami hub. We developed a new vision and strategy for the Group, backed by our US$1 billion “Project Marlin” investment programme. We began to execute a performance improvement plan and deliver our strategy to grow. The team’s hard work has started to deliver results as we saw top-line growth for the first time since demerger and EBITDA margins improve.

“In addition to our improved operating performance, we completed the sales of our Monaco Telecom business for US$445 million in May 2014 and our stake in Solomon Telekom for US$16.5 million in October 2014, and, through the acquisition of Sonitel in Panama for US$41 million, added our first acquisition in support of our Business Solutions division. Most importantly, in November 2014, we announced an agreement to acquire Columbus International Inc. (Columbus) for US$3.025 billion, which was completed on 31 March 2015.

“This is a transaction that transforms CWC, and is one that will accelerate the delivery of our strategy across the Caribbean and Latin America. Columbus is an outstanding business, backed by a state-of-the-art terrestrial and submarine fibre network. Our complementary fixed line and mobile networks and our focus on providing the best customer service, bringing together the skills and capabilities of over 7,500 team members, will position us better to serve our customers and improve the ICT infrastructure of the communities in which we operate.

“We have made good progress in executing our strategy and we are beginning to uncover the full potential of our business. CWC is on the way to becoming a better company – a genuine quad play operator, with strong market shares in the geographically focused and attractive Caribbean and Latin American markets. We see good long-term growth prospects across Consumer, Business Solutions, and Networks businesses, underpinned by our differentiated submarine and terrestrial fibre networks and full service offering.

“Overall we are pleased with the results following the first year of our new strategy, but there remains much to do to realise the full potential of the business.”

Performance against targetsman

 

Last year we set out a series of goals by which our performance would be measured. Progress is being made in delivery of our strategy as follows:

Top-line growth – Group revenue grew 4% (up 2% like-for-like) and represented the best year-on-year growth since demerger, demonstrating good levels of progress relative to the sector;

Business effectiveness – Operating costs fell US$15 million or 2% year-on-year while EBITDA grew 7%. Although our operating costs to revenue ratio fell by 2 percentage points to 41%, further reducing this ratio remains our long term ambition for the company; and

Net Promoter Score (NPS) – Customer loyalty as measured by our Group NPS was up 6 points over the year. NPS also grew across every product segment as our investments and focus began to improve customer experience.

Our strategy is expected to deliver, in the three years to 31 March 2018:

  •   Annual mid to high single digit revenue growth and significant EBITDA growth;
  •   Run-rate operating cost synergies of US$85 million and total capex synergies of US$145 million;
  •   EPS accretion from 2016/17; dilutive in 2015/16; and
  •   Following completion of Project Marlin, capital intensity is expected to fall to c.14% of revenue in the year ending 31 March 2018.Outlook

    Overall economic growth prospects in our markets remain generally positive with some variability on a country-by- country basis. Latin American countries such as Panama and Colombia have relatively robust forecast GDP growth rates of 6% and 4% respectively whilst in our Caribbean markets there are lower growth rates as the region continues to experience a more modest pace of recovery following the previous economic downturn.

    Although we face increasingly competitive conditions within some markets, for example with the introduction of mobile competition in The Bahamas later this year, we expect to continue making good progress in growing our revenue and reducing our operating cost base. In addition, we expect to benefit from revenue, operating cost and capital expenditure synergies following our acquisition of Columbus. With increasing traffic over our networks, improved service reliability, positive NPS momentum and a more diversified set of products and services to offer our customers, the decisions we have made to invest in our infrastructure and our people position us well to capitalise on positive growth trends in our industry.

Group results overview

US$m

Full year ended 31 Mar 2015

Full year
ended %

31 Mar 20141 Change

Six months ended

31 Mar 20151

Revenue

Gross margin Operating costs EBITDA3

Depreciation and amortisation
Net other operating expense
Joint ventures and associates
Total operating profit before exceptional items

Exceptional expense

Total operating profit

Finance income
Finance expense Exceptional finance expense Other non-operating income Profit before tax

Income tax

Net profit/(loss) from continuing operations

Net profit before exceptional items

Net profit from discontinued operations Gain/(loss) on disposal of discontinued operations

Profit for the year

Net profit attributable to :

Owners of the Parent Company Non-controlling interests

EPS
Adjusted EPS4

EBITDA3
Capital expenditure Operating cash flow5

Customer numbers (000s)6

Mobile
Fixed
Broadband
Video
Total customers

1,753

1,295 (710)

1,689 4%2 905

1,271 2% 661

(725) 2%

(353)

585

(256) (20)

12

546 7% 308

(235) (9)% (133) (15) (33)% (18)

5 nm 1

321

(231)

301 7% 158

(241) 4% (231)

90

26 (84) (37)

4

60 50% (73)

6 nm 23 (139) 40% (50) (25) (48%) (37)

– nm 4

(1)

(32)

(98) nm (133)

(32) – (3)

(33)

202

8 346

(130) nm

(136)

117 73% 99

76 (89)% – 1,005 (66)% –

321

253 68

(3.8)c 4.7c

585 (442)

951

859 92

(8.4)c 2.2c

546 (251)

(66)%

(71)% (26)%

55% 114%

7% (76)%

(136)

(149) 13

(5.7)c 2.7c

308 (252)

143

295 (52)% 56

3,820 1,131 658 460

3,550 8% 1,072 6% 379 74%

67 nm

6,069

5,068 20%

Six months
ended %

31 Mar 20141 Change

848 7%2

640 3% (359) 2%

281 10%

(120) (11)% (7) nm

5 (80)%

159 (1)%

(186) (24)%

(27) nm

3 nm (66) 24% (25) (48)%

(100)%

(115) nm

(7) 57%

(122) (11)%

70 41%

26 nm (6) nm

(102) (33)%

(141) 6% 39 (67)%

(6.4)c 11% 1.3c 108%

281 10% (146) (73)%

135 (59)%

  1. 1  Year ended 31 March 2014 restated for classification of Seychelles as a continuing operation and classification of Monaco as a discontinued operation. Results for the six months ended 31 March 2014 and six months ended 31 March 2015 are unaudited
  2. 2  Like-for-like revenue, excluding the impact of Sonitel and currency movements, up 2% for FY 2014/15 and up 3% for H2 2014/15 against the prior respective periods
  3. 3  EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, net other operating and non-operating income/expense and exceptional items
  4. 4  Adjusted EPS is before exceptional items, gains/losses on disposals, amortisation of acquired intangibles, transaction costs and foreign exchange gains/losses onfinancing activities
  5. 5  Operating cash flow is defined as EBITDA less capital expenditure
  6. 6  Year ended 31 March 2015 customer numbers include Columbus fixed, broadband and video customers

Annual results presentation

Cable & Wireless Communications will hold its 2014/15 annual results presentation for analysts and institutional investors at 9:30am BST on Wednesday 20 May 2015. The presentation will be webcast live on the Cable & Wireless Communications website www.cwc.com. An on-demand version will be available later in the day.

CONTACTS

Cable & Wireless Communications

Investors

Kunal Patel Mike Gittins

+44 (0) 20 7315 4083 +44 (0) 20 7315 4184

Media

Grace Silvera +1 786 353 8156
Neil Bennett (Maitland) +44 (0) 20 7379 5151 2014/15 Performance Review

Group revenue in the 2014/15 financial year grew by US$64 million or 4% (US$39 million or 2% excluding Sonitel and adjusting for currency movements). This represents the Group’s best revenue growth in five years. We saw growth across our Mobile, B2B/B2G and Video lines of business, as well as some encouraging signs for our Fixed Voice business as we refreshed tariffs and introduced innovative products to make the category more relevant for our customers. Broadband performance was disappointing with 1% growth but we are optimistic that the acquisition of Columbus will address the challenges we face, in particular in terms of faster network speeds.

Mobile network improvements through Project Marlin investments in HSPA+ and LTE have contributed to mobile data revenue growth of US$48 million. Traffic on our mobile networks grew 39% in the year and across our Group 44% of customers now has a smartphone. With the launch of a number of value added services we also began to broaden our mobile data offering beyond pure connectivity and we added some 560,000 new data plans (1.6 million in total).

Our Panama business maintained its mobile market share of greater than 50% and delivered a 4% rise in revenue driven by mobile data and subscriber growth outstripping lower ARPU. EBITDA was up 1% on a reported basis, but declined by 1% adjusting for the acquisition of Sonitel as operating costs increased by 5% due to higher marketing spend as we launched improved broadband services and a revamped video offering whilst there was also an increase in the minimum wage of up to 15%.

In the Caribbean, our Jamaica business continued to attract new mobile subscribers (up 107,000 or 15%) and gain market share, leading to 19% revenue growth (30% at constant currency). Our investments in networks and our “Upgrade Caribbean” programme led to a 10% increase in LIME mobile revenue with HSPA+ speeds now provided across the region, albeit with challenges in broadband due to delays in fibre rollout. Total reported revenue grew 3% year over year.

In The Bahamas, revenue performance declined 2% as we prepared BTC for the advent of mobile competition by reducing prices and updating roaming agreements whilst also being impacted by the introduction of VAT. We continue to anticipate that a new mobile operator will enter the Bahamian market before the end of this calendar year, which will further adversely impact performance in 2015/16. Our agreement to transfer 2% of our shares in BTC to the newly formed charitable BTC Foundation during the year, cemented our partnership with The Government of The Bahamas and will ensure investment in good causes for the benefit of the Bahamian people.

We continue to exercise cost discipline in all areas of the business and the initiative to reduce our run-rate operating costs by US$100 million by the end of 2014/15 was achieved with c.800 team members exiting the business over the two years in addition to our exiting non-core property assets, and investing to reduce power consumption. As we integrate our business with Columbus’s we will look to drive further process efficiencies.

In the second half, we generated EBITDA of US$308 million which was up 11% on the first half and 10% on the second half of the prior year (profitability is typically weighted towards the second half). This performance represents growing momentum across our business which we aim to continue.

Acquisition of Columbus International Inc.

On 31 March 2015, Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) completed the purchase of 100 per cent. of the equity of Columbus International Inc, a leading privately-owned fibre-based telecommunications and technology services provider operating in the Caribbean, Central America and the Andean region.

We expect the operating synergies to be significant; together the new company creates the opportunity to invest more, grow faster and provide an improved customer experience and most importantly, a development opportunity for our people that neither company could have achieved on their own.

The transaction will accelerate both our mobile leadership and our fixed mobile convergence strategies, enabling customers, for example, to have seamless access to high quality video content as they move between devices and locations. The streaming of video content onto mobile phones will accelerate. In fixed line, the significant improvements in our networks along with Columbus’ broadband capabilities will deliver an outstanding online experience with faster speeds and wider coverage. The transaction also brings significantly improved content and advances in video delivery and cloud based services.

In terms of Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Government (B2G), the transaction expands CWC’s regional footprint bringing additional national and international connectivity to better serve multinational customers, as well as opening up Latin America’s high growth markets. These opportunities are well aligned with our new CWC Business Solutions unit’s focus and capabilities.

As part of the regulatory approval process, we intend to dispose our 49 per cent. stake in TSTT in Trinidad & Tobago and certain overlapping terrestrial fibre assets in Barbados.

Below we present summary combined financials for the enlarged Group.

1 Extracted from audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2014

In the 12 months to 31 December 2014, Columbus generated revenue of US$598 million, up 19% on a reported basis and 14% removing the impact of the Promitel acquisition. This top line growth drove EBITDA up 18% to US$255 million, 12% excluding Promitel. This is broadly in-line with our expectations at acquisition, although there have been higher initial investments required to build the Columbus Business Solutions capability and there was an impact from the devaluation of the Colombian peso.

Integration

Since completion of the acquisition, the Group has made good progress with the integration of the CWC and Columbus businesses. Our initial focus is to deliver the benefits of a combined Group to our customers. This will be achieved through a revamp of services such as our customer support, field operations and network operations activities; and improving our product offering through the introduction of Columbus’ video products across our markets in addition to the rollout of unified consumer and business facing brands.

We have also established the executive management structure for the combined Group, ensuring retention of highly skilled colleagues from both Columbus and CWC, whilst also providing a framework which will enable decisions to be made more quickly and effectively. The integration of back office functions such as our billing and provisioning systems will also be a focus, though they will require a longer period to achieve due to planning and execution considerations.

Synergies

As a result of the Columbus acquisition, the Group expects to achieve recurring annualised pre-tax cost synergies of approximately US$85 million on a run-rate basis, and one-time capital expenditure synergies of approximately US$145 million in total, by 31 March 2018. Additional revenue benefits are anticipated through an improved product offering, particularly in high-speed broadband and video services, cross-selling and reduced churn.

US$m

CWC (consolidated)

Columbus1

Consolidated Combined Group

CWC (proportionate)

Proportionate Combined Group

Revenue

1,753

598

2,351

1,194

1,792

EBITDA

585

255

840

373

628

Capex

(442)

(191)

(633)

na

na

Recurring cost synergies

Substantial cost synergies have been identified across the following areas:

  •   Duplication of corporate costs and functional overheads (approximately US$50 million): rationalisation of overlapping headcount in back office, sales and marketing and customer service roles, renegotiation of vendor rates, reduction of real estate costs and harmonisation of IT systems; and
  •   Integration of networks and video content (approximately US$35 million): transition to Columbus’ fixed line fibre network where networks overlap, renegotiation of maintenance fees, consolidation of network and service operating centres and leverage of Columbus’ superior video content buying terms and access to greater economies of scale.

We expect to benefit from approximately 45% of these synergies by the end of 2015/16, 85% by the end of 2016/17 and 100% by the end of 2017/18.

To achieve the synergy benefits we anticipate one-off cash costs of US$110 million, split approximately 45%, 40% and 15% over the three years following the acquisition. US$68 million of the operating exceptional items charged in the year ended 31 March 2015 relate to these cash costs.

One-off capex synergies

In addition, the Group will benefit from one-time synergies of approximately US$145 million related to avoidance of duplicative one-off capital expenditure through network consolidation in the overlapping markets where there had been investment plans under Project Marlin and Columbus already has existing network infrastructure. Such synergies are expected to be split 35%, 40% and 25% over the three years to 31 March 2018.

Revenue synergies

Revenue synergies are anticipated from selling additional services to existing customers through cross-selling of triple play and quad play bundles, improving legacy CWC’s video offering in non-overlapping markets, improved network quality reducing customer churn and an enhanced B2B and B2G offering.

Financing of the acquisition

The acquisition of Columbus was financed through a placing of new shares, equity issuance to the vendors, two- year term loan facilities and the assumption of Columbus’ debt.

The Cable & Wireless Communications Group

We operate across a number of markets with variable economic prospects in the Caribbean and Latin America region. Latin American countries such as Panama and Colombia have relatively robust forecast GDP growth rates of 6% and 4% respectively whilst in our Caribbean markets there are lower growth rates as the region continues to experience a more modest pace of recovery following the previous economic downturn.

With the following attributes, we believe our businesses are well positioned to grow in the Caribbean and Latin American region.

1. Strong consumer market positions

We are the leader in:

 10 out of 16 mobile markets;
 16 out of 18 broadband markets;
 17 out of 18 markets in which we provide fixed line services; and  7 out of 10 markets where we offer video.

Our ambition is to be the leader in every service in every market.

2. Wholesale and carrier

We are uniquely positioned to serve the large, growing and increasingly complex needs of carrier operators and large multi-national corporations requiring wholesale access to international bandwidth within the Caribbean and Latin America region.

3. Growing data demand

Global demand for data products continues to grow and is forecast to grow at a 59% CAGR from 2014-2019 in the Caribbean and Latin America with the markets we serve currently lagging adoption rates in more developed countries. By providing our customers with best-in-class networks and the devices and services they desire, we are beginning to see increased data penetration and usage across our markets.

4. Convergence

Our ownership of mobile and fixed networks, meshed with the new company’s backhaul and international connectivity capabilities is a strategic advantage which can enable us to provide customers with the best network quality experience.

5. Synergies and operating efficiencies

The Columbus transaction presents the opportunity to capture synergies arising from capital and operational overlap as well as an acceleration of CWC’s initiatives to reduce operating costs and improve efficiency by simplifying our processes and upgrading our systems.

6. Managed services

Latin America’s B2B telecoms market represents a sizable growth opportunity. We plan to extend our relationships with existing customers and increase our current market penetration. The acquisitions of Columbus and Sonitel provide greater opportunity to capture this growth based on our expanded scale and scope capabilities.

Vision and Strategy

While our vision remains the same – we seek to deliver long-term and sustainable growth for shareholders through growing the lifetime value of our customer relationships – with the acquisition of Columbus we have refined our strategy to reflect our enhanced market positions and capabilities. The new company’s strategy now has six imperatives with two additions since the Columbus acquisition.

Established strategic imperatives

  •   Drive to mobile leadership – Deliver the best network, data packages, handset range and customer service;
  •   Fixed-mobile convergence – Leverage our unique combination of fixed and mobile assets;
  •   Video and content leadership – Generate video and broadband growth whilst reducing fixed line churn; and
  •   Grow our B2B and B2G business – Build bespoke, customer-centric solutions leveraging our sub-sea andterrestrial assets.
    Additional imperatives post Columbus merger
  •   Build a leading wholesale network – Deliver unrivalled intra-regional connectivity; and
  •   Deliver successful integration – Improve customer experience, reduce costs and improve returns.Investments

    Consistent with our vision and strategy, 2014/15 saw an uplift in our capital expenditure from US$251 million to US$442 million as we delivered the first year of Project Marlin. The main areas of investment focused on:

    Mobile networks
    We have now upgraded to HSPA+ across all our markets and launched LTE services in The Bahamas, Cayman, Panama, and Antigua, providing more than 4x the throughput of HSPA+. In the year, our total number of network sites grew by 42% and our mobile networks showed improvement across all parameters with 8 of 15 HSPA+ networks determined as “Best in Class” based on international benchmarks. Data traffic increased 165% across all LIME markets. We have more work to do however in terms of mobile network performance in our larger scale markets.

    We have added 399 new HSPA+ sites in Jamaica and 476 new HSPA+ sites in the other markets. In The Bahamas, 24 additional HSPA+ sites and additional second carriers were added to improve coverage and capacity in the high traffic areas. In addition, 107 new LTE sites were added to expand the LTE footprint. In Panama, 290 HSPA+ sites were added, 186 2nd carrier and 235 3rd carrier expansions were completed to increase network coverage and capacity. Panama launched LTE service in March 2015, with 106 sites in operation.

    Fixed networks
    On the Fixed Networks, LIME is strategically upgrading the broadband service by using FTTH capable of providing 1 Gbps and VDSL2 technologies that can yield over 30 Mbps of throughput, providing our customers with the best broadband experience in the region. In Barbados, the FTTH deployment has continued, passing 73,000 homes. In Cayman, over 12,000 homes have been passed with FTTH and another 8,000 have been passed with VDSL2. Projects in Turks and Caicos, BVI and Anguilla are well under way with over 252 km of new fibre installed and a total of 10,000 homes passed in all 3 markets providing VDSL2 services. This brings the total fibre rollout to over 1,300km across LIME markets. Panama has deployed an additional 967km of fibre, for a total of 1,173 km deployed to expand the broadband service offering to customers in new areas; our fibre coaxial network in Panama now passes over 260,000 homes. In Bahamas, an additional 71 km of fibre has been deployed, passing over 23,000 homes.

    Traffic on our fixed networks grew 31% as we drove our fixed-mobile convergence strategy to most efficiently deliver data to customers. We saw our ‘production cost’ of data fall 38% measured by cost per GB as we improved our delivery efficiency.

    We anticipate that our capital expenditure will remain elevated as a proportion of our revenue in the coming financial year as we deliver Year 2 of Project Marlin and commence the first year of our integration with Columbus. This year’s financial performance bears out our underlying belief that increased investment to deliver an improved service will generate future revenue and earnings growth.

REVIEW OF CWC OPERATIONS
Income statement for the full year – continuing operations

Panama
2014/15 2013/14 Change

US$m US$m %

LIME
2014/15 2013/14 Change

US$m US$m %

BTC
2014/15 2013/14 Change

US$m US$m %

Seychelles 2014/15 2013/14 Change

US$m US$m %

Other1
2014/15 2013/14 Change

US$m US$m %

Total
2014/15 2013/14 Change

US$m US$m %

Mobile
Broadband and Video
Fixed voice
Managed services and other Revenue

LFL Revenue2

351 336 4% 69 64 8%

106 113 (6)% 110 63 75%

299 273 10% 103 105 (2)% 196 207 (5)% 111 106 5%

250 258 (3)% 15 15 – 49 45 9% 34 36 (6)%

31 (6)% 10 10%

9 (11)% 4 3 33%

29 11 8

−−− −−− −−−
8 15 (47)%

929 898 3% 198 194 2% 359 374 (4)% 267 223 20%

636 576 10%

592 576 3%

709 691 3%

709 677 5%

348 354 (2)%

348 354 (2)%

52 53 (2)%

52 48 8%

8 15 (47)%

8 15 (47)%

1,753 1,689 4%

1,709 1,670 2%

Cost of sales

Gross margin

Operating costs

EBITDA3

(223) (182) (23)%

(154) (153) (1)%

(67) (65) (3)%

(8) (7) (14)%

(6) (11) 45%

(458) (418) (10)%

413 394 5%

(172) (155) (11)%

555 538 3%

(317) (368) 14%

281 289 (3)%

(159) (161) 1%

44 46 (4)%

(25) (26) 4%

2 4 (50)%

(37) (15) nm

1,295 1,271 2%

(710) (725) 2%

241 239 1%

238 170 40%

122 128 (5)%

19 20 (5)%

(35) (11) nm

585 546 7%

Proportionate EBITDA

118

117 1%

211

150 41%

60

65 (8)%

19 20 (5)%

(35) (11) nm

373

341 9%

Depreciation and amortisation

Net other operating income/(expense)
Operating profit/(loss) before

joint ventures and exceptional items

(101) (94) (7)% 21 − nm

(88) (89) 1% (10) – nm

(43) (44) 2% – − nm

(10) − nm −−−

(14) (8) (75)% (31) (15) nm

(256) (235) (9)% (20) (15) (33)%

161 145 11%

140 81 73%

79 84 (6)%

9 20 (55)%

(80) (34) nm

309 296 4%

Capital expenditure

Operating cash flow4

Cash exceptional items Net cash interest
Cash tax

(126)

115

(7) (10) (24)

(79) (59)%

160 (28)%

(2) nm

(9) (11)% (27) 11%

(195)

43

(102)

68

(91)%

(37)%

(113)
(16) (17) (6)%

(26)
(1) – nm

77%

(75)

47

(51) (47)%

77 (39)%

(8) – (1) (2) 50%

(8) 11-

(12) (10) (20)%

7 10 (30)%

−−−

−−− (6) (5) (20)%

(34)

(69)

(17) (116) (5)

(9) nm

(20) nm

(7) nm (43) nm

(3) (67)%

(442)

143

(58) (126) (52)

(251) (76)%

295 (52)%

(130) 55% (51) nm (54) 4%

Headcount5

1,542 1,376 12%

1,363 1,409 (3)%

779 772 1%

211 210 0%

256 146 75%

4,151 3,913 6%

nm represents % change not meaningful

  1. 1  Other includes management, royalty and branding fees, the costs of the corporate centre and operational hub, net UK defined benefit pension charge or credit and intercompany eliminations
  2. 2  Adjusted for currency movements in the prior year and the removal of Sonitel revenue in the current year
  3. 3  Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, net other operating and non-operating income/expense and exceptional items
  4. 4  EBITDA less capital expenditure
  5. 5  Full time equivalents as at 31 March

Income statement for the second half of the year – continuing operations

Panama
H2 14/15 H2 13/14 Change

US$m US$m %

LIME
H2 14/15 H2 13/14 Change

US$m US$m %

BTC
H2 14/15 H2 13/14 Change

US$m US$m %

Seychelles
H2 14/15 H2 13/14 Change

US$m US$m %

Other3
H2 14/15 H2 13/14 Change

US$m US$m %

Total
H2 14/15 H2 13/14 Change

US$m US$m %

Mobile
Broadband and Video
Fixed voice
Managed services and other Revenue

175 168 4% 35 33 6% 52 55 (5)% 72 33 nm

156 51 98 60

138 13% 53 (4)% 102 (4)%

52 15%

124 7 25 21

129 (4)% 8 (13)%

20 25% 22 (5)%

13 16 (19)% 6 5 20% 4 5 (20)% 2 1100%

— — —

4 8 (50)%

468 451 4% 99 99 –

179 182 (2)% 159 116 37%

334 289 16%

365 345 6%

177 179 (1)%

25 27 (7)%

4 8 (50)%

905 848 7%

LFL Revenue2

Cost of sales

Gross margin

Operating costs

EBITDA2

290 289 0%

(123) (90) (37)%

365 339 8%

(81) (73) (11)%

177 179 (1)%

(34) (34) –

25 23 9%

(4) (3) (33)%

4 8 (50)%

(2) (8) 75%

861 838 3%

(244) (208) (17)%

211 199 6%

(88) (76) (16)%

284 272 4%

(146) (180) 19%

143 145 (1)%

(80) (77) (4)%

21 24 (13)%

(12) (14) 14%

2 – nm (27) (12) nm

661 640 3%

(353) (359) 2%

123 123 –

138 92 50%

63 68 (7)%

9 10 (10)%

(25) (12) nm

308 281 10%

Proportionate EBITDA

60

60 –

122

79 54%

31

34 (9)%

9 10 (10)%

(25) (12) nm

197

171 15%

Depreciation and amortisation Net other operating income/ (expense)
Operating profit before joint ventures and associates and exceptional items

(53) (50) (6)% – – nm

(47) (45) (4)% (10) (1) nm

(22) (21) (5)% 1 -nm

(3) – nm —

  1. (8)  (4) (100)%
  2. (9)  (6) (50)%

(133) (120) (11)% (18) (7) nm

70 73 (4)%

81 46 76%

42 47 (11)%

6 10 (40)%

(42) (22) (91)%

157 154 2%

Capital expenditure

Operating cash flow1

(68) (44) (55)%

55 79 (30)%

(105) (63) (67)%

33 29 14%

(48) (28) (71)%

15 40 (63)%

(8) (5) (60)%

1 5 (80)%

(23) (6) nm

(48) (18) nm

(252) (146) (73)%

56 135 (59)%

nm represents % change not meaningful
1 EBITDAlesscapitalexpenditure
2 Earningsbeforeinterest,tax,depreciationandamortisation,netotheroperatingandnon-operatingincome/(expense)andexceptionalitems

3 Otherincludesmanagement,royaltyandbrandingfees,thecostsofthecorporatecentreandoperationalhub,netUKdefinedbenefitpensionchargeorcreditandintercompanyeliminations

Panama

  •   Total revenue up 10%, like-for-like up 3%, driven by 4% growth in mobile revenue
  •   Data traffic up 15% with 25% growth in mobile data revenue; LTE launched in March
  •   8% growth in broadband and video sales following network improvements

Year ended 31 Mar 2015

6 months ended 31 Mar 2015

6 months ended 30 Sep 2014

Year ended 31 Mar 2014

6 months ended 31 Mar 2014

6 months ended 30 Sep 2013

Subscribers (000s) Mobile1

Broadband Video Fixed

2,087 132 56 366

2,087 132 56 366

2,184 132 47 369

1,961 131 43 372

1,961 131 43 372

1,909 129 41 374

ARPU (US$)2 Mobile

Broadband3 Video Fixed3

13.9 29.2 33.7 24.1

13.4 29.5 33.4 23.7

14.5 29.0 34.0 24.5

14.7 28.8 33.6 25.2

14.1 28.6 34.2 24.7

15.3 28.9 33.0 25.8

Revenue (US$m) EBITDA (US$m) Margin%

636 241

38%

334 123

37%

302 118

39%

576 239

41%

289 123

43%

287 116

40%

  1. 1  Active subscribers are defined as those having performed a revenue-generating activity in the previous 60 days, prepaid subscribers restated following removal of inactive subscribers acquired through promotions
  2. 2  ARPU is average revenue per user per month, excluding equipment sales
  3. 3  ARPUs for 2014 restated for reclassified business revenue from managed services to broadband and fixed line

Revenue at US$636 million was 10% higher than the prior year as mobile, broadband and video, and managed services growth offset the continued decline in fixed voice as we continue to see fixed to mobile substitution.

Mobile revenue at US$351 million was up 4% against the prior year. Subscribers increased by 126,000, driven by a 6% increase in prepaid customers and a 13% increase in postpaid customers as we launched more affordable smart devices and value propositions such as M-Wallet. Data revenue was up 25% on the prior year, more than offsetting voice revenue decline of 8%. Data penetration of our customer base increased by 13 percentage points to 52% following a 43% increase in data subscribers as a wider range of data plans stimulated both prepaid and postpaid usage. Mobile ARPU was lower than the prior year due to reduced inbound roaming revenue and lower voice rates and usage due to competitive pressures.

Broadband and video revenue of US$69 million was 8% higher than the prior year. Broadband subscribers were up 1% to 132,000 and video subscribers rose by 30% to 56,000 following the launch of an improved video product and a prepaid DTH service. Bundling of products was an effective retention tool with 84% of video and 82% of broadband subscribers taking more than one service.

Fixed voice revenue of US$106 million was down 6% against the prior year due to lower domestic call revenue. Subscriber numbers continued to decline as customers substituted to other products, but the rate of decline slowed by two percentage points due to the impact of triple play offerings.

Managed services revenue of US$110 million grew by 75% primarily as a result of the acquisition of Grupo Sonitel which was completed in September 2014. There were delays in the award of Government contracts following elections in May, but we improved performance in the second half as government departments mobilised and the Sonitel acquisition delivered synergies through cross and up-selling.

Gross margin at US$413 million was up 5% on the prior year. As a percentage of revenue, gross margin was 65%, declining 3 percentage points in the year due to the increase in lower gross margin managed services revenue.

Operating costs were 11% higher than the prior year due to the inclusion of Sonitel’s cost base and increased advertising spend as we launched improved broadband services and a revamped video offering, prepared for unification of branding within our consumer businesses and responded to an increase in the minimum wage of up to 15%. This resulted in EBITDA of US$241 million, which was 1% better than last year. The EBITDA margin for the period was 38%, again impacted by increased managed services revenue.

Capital expenditure of US$126 million was 59% higher than the prior year (spectrum excluded) as we focused our investments on the mobile segment (68% of total balance sheet spend) through expansion of our 3G/4G network, whilst also increasing our broadband and video capacity to deliver a better customer experience.

CWC’s proportionate ownership of Panama EBITDA for year ended 31 March 2015 was 49%.

LIME

  •   EBITDA up 40% to US$238 million; 9 percentage point increase in margin to 34%
  •   Revenue 3% higher, up 5% on a constant currency basis
  •   Mobile revenue up 10%; subscriber growth of 11%; HSPA+ available across footprint
  •   Jamaica mobile service revenue up 19%, 30% at constant currency
  •   Operating costs 14% lower

Year ended 31 Mar 2015

6 months ended 31 Mar 2015

6 months ended 30 Sep 2014

Year ended 31 Mar 2014

6 months ended 31 Mar 2014

6 months ended 30 Sep 2013

Subscribers (000s) Mobile1

Broadband Video Fixed

1,328 224 27 578

1,328 224 27 578

1,236 219 26 574

1,198 218 24 580

1,198 218 24 580

1,094 214 22 582

ARPU (US$)2 Mobile

Broadband Video Fixed

19.5 35.7 23.9 28.4

19.5 35.3 22.7 28.4

19.5 36.0 25.0 28.3

20.7 37.4 24.7 29.6

19.2 36.5 26.2 29.0

22.2 38.3 23.3 30.1

Revenue (US$m) EBITDA (US$m) Margin%

709 238

34%

365 138

38%

344 100

29%

691 170

25%

345 92

27%

346 78

23%

  1. 1  Active subscribers are defined as those having performed a revenue-generating activity in the previous 60 days. Historic subscriber numbers have been restated to exclude subscribers with credit balances but no activity in the preceding 60 days
  2. 2  ARPU is average revenue per user per month, excluding equipment sales

The LIME brand encompasses our operations in Anguilla, Antigua, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and Turks and Caicos. LIME’s reported revenue of US$709 million was 3% up on the prior year. At constant currency revenue would have been up US$32 million or 5% higher.

Mobile revenue was up US$25 million against the prior year at US$299 million with increasing demand for mobile data; revenue increased US$13 million or 24% year over year, with voice also increasing by US$10 million or 5%. Mobile traffic increased by 264% in Jamaica, 242% in Grenada and by 350% in St Vincent and we expect the shift in mix from voice to data to continue as we invest in high-speed networks. During the period we continued to see strong uptake in Cayman, with ARPU growth of 9%, where we launched LTE services last year. We have now also launched LTE in Antigua resulting in mobile revenue growth of 15%, following a 12% increase in ARPU. As part of Project Marlin we have now upgraded all of our operations to at least HSPA+, and improved customer perception, measured through NPS, has reflected the improvements in our service quality. Jamaica momentum continued with 15% growth in mobile subscribers resulting in a market share of 28%, up 3 percentage points on last year.

Broadband and video revenue was broadly in line with the prior year. Broadband subscribers rose 3% with growth in most of our key markets, offset by competitive pricing pressure which drove ARPU lower. We are focusing on delivering high speed fibre access in markets where we can see a clear return. In Barbados, our combined network with Columbus passes 115,000 homes with 76,000 connected with broadband. Across the segment, we have grown LIME TV subscribers by 14% to 27,034 following the introduction of fibre based services in Barbados, Cayman, and St. Lucia.

Fixed voice revenue at US$196 million declined by 5% as a 4% fall in ARPU, driven mainly by rate reductions due to competition and bundling as well as by lower termination rates, was compounded by a 0.4% drop in the subscriber base.

Managed services revenue rose 5% to US$111 million. Second half revenue was US$9 million up on the first half as installation on equipment sales picked up and contract wins came through.

Gross margin at US$555 million was up 3% compared to the prior year reflecting reduced cost of sales following lower international carrier rates for roaming, international voice and data. As a percentage of revenue, gross margin remained flat at 78%.

Operating costs reduced by US$51 million (14%) to US$317 million as we continue to improve efficiency within the businesses. Following an initial focus on staff efficiency, we have been reducing costs through working on other projects such as exiting non-core property assets with associated utility cost saving and introducing initiatives to reduce power consumption. Across our LIME business we delivered the targeted cost reductions in line with the objectives previously set out and are focussed on further improvements.

EBITDA increased by 40% to US$238 million, driven by growing revenue and lower operating costs. The EBITDA margin at 34% was 9 percentage points higher than the prior year.

Capital expenditure at US$195 million, excluding spectrum, represented a 91% increase against the prior year with 84% of balance sheet spend focused on our mobile and fixed segments to enhance our HSPA+ and LTE networks capacity as well as enhancing our fibre networks. Significant investments were also made to optimise infrastructure in order to reduce power costs.

Our proportionate ownership of LIME EBITDA for the year ended 31 March 2015 was 89%.

BTC

  •   Total revenue down 2%, driven by mobile decline of 3% as preparations made for entry of competition
  •   60% growth in mobile data subscribers (48% of total customer base) following investment in HSPA+ andLTE networks in the prior year
  •   Fibre investments leave us well placed to deploy Columbus video product
  •   EBITDA of US$122 million, 5% lower than prior year

Year ended 31 Mar 2015

6 months ended 31 Mar 2015

6 months ended 30 Sep 2014

Year ended 31 Mar 2014

6 months ended 31 Mar 2014

6 months ended 30 Sep 2013

Subscribers (000s) Mobile1

Broadband Fixed

318 25 99

318 25 99

311 24 102

308 23 103

308 23 103

305 19 114

ARPU (US$)2 Mobile

Broadband Fixed

61.3 51.3 40.2

60.2 49.8 40.8

62.4 52.8 39.5

66.1 64.3 34.7

64.3 60.9 33.6

67.8 67.7 35.7

Revenue (US$m) EBITDA (US$m) Margin%

348 122

35%

177 63

36%

171 59

35%

354 128

36%

179 68

38%

175 60

34%

1 Active subscribers are defined as those having performed a revenue-generating activity in the previous 60 days. Historic subscriber numbers have been restated to exclude subscribers with credit balances but no activity in the preceding 60 days

2 ARPU is average revenue per user per month, excluding equipment sales

Revenue at US$348 million was down 2% on the prior year primarily due to a reduction in mobile revenue as the business prepared for a new mobile entrant later this calendar year.

Mobile revenue was down US$8 million following price reductions ahead of the anticipated entrant of a mobile competitor, reflected in an 7% drop in ARPU. Data traffic grew 140% following additional investment in HSPA+ with LTE sites added in the year.

Broadband revenue was flat in the period, with subscribers increasing 9% following increased uptake in fibre based products as consumers benefited from investments to double broadband speeds to more than 16Mbits per second in the prior year.

Fixed voice revenue at US$49 million was up 9% driven by ARPU growth of 16% as there was upselling of higher tariff products as part of bundled offers. Of the fixed subscriber base, 17% of customers (c.16,000) have upgraded from their basic packages.

Managed services revenue fell by 6% to US$34 million due to a reduction in off island capacity sales.

Gross margin at US$281 million was 3% down compared to the prior year reflecting the reduction in revenue and higher subscriber acquisition costs. As a percentage of revenue, gross margin declined by one percentage point to 81%.

Operating costs reduced by US$2 million (1%) to US$159 million as we began to realise the benefits of the on-going cost reduction initiatives. Headcount grew by 1%, to 779 colleagues as we invested in marketing. A new headcount reduction programme has been announced to right-size the cost base ahead of competition.

EBITDA of US$122 million was 5% lower than the prior year with the EBITDA margin of 35% declining by one percentage point.

Capital expenditure of US$75 million was 47% higher than the previous year with 58% of balance sheet investment geared towards expanding our 3G, HSPA+ and LTE infrastructure as well as expanding our NGN and high speed DSL network.

Our proportionate ownership of BTC EBITDA for the year ended 31 March 2015 was 49%.

Seychelles

Following a strategic review of the opportunities, and discussions with the Government, the Seychelles business has returned to continuing operations as we have no plans to divest the asset in the near term. We therefore no longer consider the business to be held for sale.

  •   Revenue down 2%, up 8% at constant currency
  •   EBITDA of US$19 million, US$1 million lower than prior year, up 12% at constant currency
  •   Mobile subscribers up 5%

Year ended 31 Mar 2015

6 months ended 31 Mar 2015

6 months ended 30 Sep 2014

Year ended 31 Mar 2014

6 months ended 31 Mar 2014

6 months ended 30 Sep 2013

Subscribers (000s) Mobile1

Broadband Fixed

87 7 17

87 7 17

84 7 18

83 7 17

83 7 17

82 6 17

ARPU (US$)2 Mobile

Broadband Fixed

28.5 130.2 36.4

26.7 128.4 34.6

30.3 131.9 38.3

30.9 126.6 43.5

31.8 124.6 42.8

30.1 128.6 44.2

Revenue (US$m) EBITDA (US$m) Margin%

52 19 37%

25 9

36%

27 10 37%

53 20 38%

27 10 37%

26 10 38%

1 Active subscribers are defined as those having performed a revenue-generating event in the previous 60 days 2 ARPU is average revenue per user per month, excluding equipment sales

The Seychelles business generated revenue of US$52 million, down 2% on the prior year as the Seychelles rupee devalued over the year.

EBITDA of US$19 million was 5% lower than the prior year (up 12% at constant currency), again driven by devaluation of the currency.

We fully owned the Seychelles business for the year ended 31 March 2015.

Other

Other includes Wholesale Solutions, management, royalty and branding fees, the costs of the corporate centre and operational hub, net UK defined benefit pension charge or credit and intercompany eliminations.

EBITDA for the period was US$24 million lower than the prior year at US$(35) million primarily due the addition of central commercial, technology and business solutions capabilities and consulting fees related to the implementation of the Group’s strategic initiatives.

Joint ventures and associates

Our share of profit after tax from joint ventures and associates was US$12 million, US$7 million higher than the prior period.

CWC share of revenue

CWC share of profit/(loss) after tax

Effective ownership as at 31 March 2015

%

Year ended 31 March 2015

US$m

Year ended 31 March 2014

US$m

Year ended 31 March 2015

US$m

Year ended 31 March 2014

US$m

Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) Solomon Telekom
Other1

49% 0%

229 231 11 (62)

10 16 2 2 – 1 (1) (3)

Total 239 248 12 (63)

1 Other includes the Seychelles Cable System (SCS)

CWC’s share of TSTT revenue was down 1% in the period as competition intensified in the region. Profits increased by US$73 million to US$11 million as the prior period included a one-off US$67 million charge related to a voluntary separation scheme. CWC successfully disposed of its holding in Solomon Telekom on 24 October 2014 for US$16.5 million.

As a condition to the regulatory approval for the Columbus acquisition, we are required to divest our 49% stake in TSTT and no longer retain significant influence over its management. Accordingly, our investment in TSTT has been transferred to assets held for sale.

Capital expenditure

Capital expenditure in the year was US$442 million, 76% higher than last year, representing 25% of revenue as we accelerated investments following commencement of Project Marlin.

Mobile investments, 41% of the total balance sheet capital expenditure, accounted for the majority of expenditure as we continue to upgrade our network in all regions. The next largest investment area was in fixed networks, 29% of the total, where fibre upgrades, 2,300 km rolled out and c.114,000 additional homes passed, provided our customers with a leading high-speed broadband experience. We also made capital investments to increase our range of managed services solutions, with our Disaster Recovery as a Service product recently recognised in the Gartner Magic Quadrant and being recognised by Avaya as their Central America and the Caribbean Mid-Market Partner of the Year.

Pre-exceptional depreciation and amortisation

Depreciation and amortisation at US$256 million was 9% higher following accelerated investment in network infrastructure as part of Project Marlin.

Other Group items

Net other operating expense

The US$20 million net other operating expense for the year comprised US$54 million of costs related to the acquisition of Columbus partly offset by income from the sub-sea cable partnership with Columbus Networks and foreign exchange translation gains related to the UK pension scheme as the US dollar strengthened against sterling. In the prior year the loss of US$15 million principally comprised a foreign exchange translation loss related to the UK pension scheme.

Exceptional expense

Exceptional expenses totalled US$231 million in the year. The charge included impairment of assets; primarily, copper plant and facilities in markets where CWC and Columbus overlap and legacy voice switches replaced as part of Project Marlin, as well as expenses to yield synergies related to the Columbus transaction and a voluntary separation scheme in The Bahamas. US$241 million of expense in the prior period included charges for the Group cost reduction initiative and a charge of US$67 million in TSTT.

Net finance expense

The US$58 million net finance expense for the Group included finance income of US$26 million (US$6 million in 2013/14) primarily due to foreign exchange gains on sterling denominated liabilities. The total finance expense was lower than the prior year at US$84 million (US$139 million in 2013/14) predominantly related to the early redemption of the secured US$500 million 2017 bond with 8.625% coupon in February 2014.

Exceptional finance expense

The US$37 million exceptional finance expense for the Group in 2014/15 related primarily to financing fees for the Columbus acquisition consents and backstop facilities. The 2013/14 exceptional finance expense related to the early redemption of the secured US$500 million 2017 bond in February 2014.

Other non-operating income

Other non-operating income of US$4 million (US$nil million in 2013/14) represented the gain on disposal of the Group’s 32.577% shareholding in Solomon Telekom.

Income tax expense

The income tax charge for the continuing Group of US$32 million (US$32 million in 2013/14) was in respect of overseas taxes. This charge represented an effective tax rate of 24% pre-exceptional items. Removing the impact of non-deductible interest charged on the Group’s central borrowing facilities this charge represented an effective tax rate of 19% pre-exceptional items.

Discontinued Operations

In the year ended 31 March 2015, discontinued operations included Monaco’s contribution until its disposal was completed on 20 May 2014. In the prior year, discontinued operations comprised Monaco, Macau and the Islands businesses.

Gains on disposals

During the period we recognised an accounting gain of US$346 million following the completed disposal of our holding in Monaco Telecom in May 2014.

Group cash flow

US$m 2014/15 2013/14

EBITDA1

Capital expenditure

Operating cash flow before exceptional items

Movement in working capital and other provisions Net investment income2
Underlying free cash flow
Fixed charges

Taxes paid
Interest paid
Dividends paid to non-controlling interests

Underlying equity free cash flow

Dividends paid to shareholders

Net cash flow before one-off items and exceptional items

Non-recurring and exceptional items

Cash exceptional items
Pension payment
Proceeds on issue of shares
Acquisitions and disposals
Premium for early redemption of US$500 million 2017 bond
Panama and Jamaica concession renewals and spectrum purchases

Cash flow from discontinued operations

Net cash flow after one-off items and exceptional items

Net cash within assets disposed and acquired

Net proceeds/(repayments) from borrowings

Net cash flow

585 546 (442) (251) 143 295

(14) 5 4 10 133 310

(52) (54) (82) (122) (86) (72) (87) 62

(104) (100)

(191) (38)

(58) (130) (52) − 176 – (431) 1,297

– (19) (14) (114)

– 55

(570) 1,051

41 (165)

724 (976)

195 (90)

  1. 1  Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, net other operating and non-operating income/(expense) and exceptional items
  2. 2  Includes dividends received from joint ventures of US$nil million in 2014/15 (US$2 million in 2013/14)

The Group generated operating cash flow before exceptional items of US$143 million for the year ended 31 March 2015, 52% lower than the prior year as capital expenditure accelerated under Project Marlin. There was a US$14 million working capital outflow during the year with improvement in Panama government receivables during the second half. Net investment income primarily comprised interest on cash balances, with US$0 million dividends received from our TSTT joint venture (US$2 million in 2013/14).

Fixed charges

We paid US$52 million relating to income tax in the period, US$2 million lower than the prior year primarily due to changes in the taxation rate in Panama and lower tax payments in LIME. Interest paid on our external borrowings at US$82 million was US$40 million lower than the prior year driven by the redemption of the US$500 million 8.625% secured bonds due 2017, in February 2014. We paid dividends to non-controlling interests of US$86 million in the period, which was US$14 million higher than the prior year due to timing of dividends from Panama.

Underlying equity free cash flow of US$(87) million was US$149 million lower than the prior year.

Non-recurring and exceptional items

The net cash outflow included US$58 million for exceptional items related to restructuring programmes primarily in LIME and the centre as we established our Miami office. We made a US$52 million cash contribution to the Cable & Wireless Superannuation Fund in the period and do not anticipate any further top-up payments until H1 2015/16 per the existing agreement with the Trustees of the fund. Acquisitions and disposals for the period include the US$708 million cash consideration and fees related to the acquisition of Columbus, and a payment for the acquisition of Grupo Sonitel, offset by proceeds for the sale of Monaco Telecom less cash deconsolidated upon the disposal and US$16.5 million from the sale of our minority shareholding in Solomon Telekom. We also made a US$14 million payment related to our licence extension and additional spectrum agreement in Jamaica.

Group consolidated cash and debt

Cash and cash equivalents

As at 31 March 2015 Subsidiaries Central Group US$m US$m US$m

As at 31 March 2014 Subsidiaries Central Group US$m US$m US$m

93 309

– (1,234)
– (219)
– (394)
– (374)
– (288) –––

(259) – (259)

402

(1,234) (219) (394) (374) (288)

114 91 205

–––

  • –  (242) (242)
  • –  (393) (393) ––– ––– –––

(220) – (220)

US$1.25bn unsecured bonds repayable in 2021 Sterling unsecured bonds repayable in 2019 US$400 million secured bonds due 2020 US$390 million secured loan due 2017

US$300 million unsecured loan due 2017 US$570 million Revolving Credit Facility (RCF) Other regional debt facilities

Total debt
Total reported net (debt)

(259) (2,509) (2,768)

(220) (635) (855)

(166) (2,200) (2,366)

(106) (544) (650)

As part of the Columbus acquisition, we raised financing comprised of US$390 million secured and US$300 million unsecured term loans maturing on 31 March 2017. Additionally, we replaced our US$487 million revolving credit facility (RCF) with a new US$570 million RCF that matures five years from the Columbus acquisition closing date.

Consolidated net debt as at 31 March 2015 was US$2,366 million with proportionate net debt of US$2,263 million representing 3.6x proportionate EBITDA, combined with the Columbus business for the year ended 31 March 2015. Our target leverage for the Group is 2.5x to 3.0x proportionate net debt to proportionate EBITDA.

Following the Columbus acquisition, the debt profile of the Group has changed significantly due to the new financing of US$690 million and assumed existing Columbus debt of US$1.25 billion. Management are focussed on ensuring that the Group maintains appropriate compliance with covenants included within relevant financing agreements, reviewing key ratios relating to leverage and gearing and monitoring operational cash flows.

Equity issuance

On 6 November 2014, the Company issued an additional 252,812,284 shares (9.99% of the issued share capital excluding treasury shares immediately prior to the issuance). The net proceeds of US$176 million were used to finance part of the cash consideration for the Columbus acquisition.

Pensions

In May 2014 the Company reached agreement with the Trustees of the Cable & Wireless Superannuation Fund (CWSF) on the actuarial funding valuation as at 31 March 2013. This showed a funding deficit of £109 million. Cash contributions to the CWSF for 2014 to 2016 will remain in line with the agreement following the March 2010 triennial review. In addition to payments of £30 million made in July 2014 and £31 million in April 2015, a future payment of £33 million will be due in April 2016. Payments in 2017, 2018 and 2019 will be based on the outcome of the triennial valuation as at 31 March 2016 and will be in the range of £0 – £23 million each year as necessary to fund the scheme by April 2019.

As at 31 March 2015, the defined benefit section of the CWSF had an IAS 19 accounting deficit of £106 million (US$158 million), compared to a deficit of £90 million (US$148 million) as at 31 March 2014. This deficit funding agreed as part of the 2013 actuarial funding valuation constitutes a minimum funding agreement and in accordance with accounting standards we are required to account for this within the deficit. The IAS19 deficit recorded at 31 March 2015 therefore represents the present value of the amounts committed under the minimum funding agreement.

The AA corporate bond rate used in calculating the pension deficit was 3.2% compared with 4.4% at 31 March 2014.

The fund assets at 31 March 2015 were approximately invested 67% in the bulk annuity policy, 18% in equities, and 15% in bonds, property, swaps and cash.

There are other unfunded pension liabilities in the UK of £32 million (£29 million at 31 March 2014). The Group holds investments in gilts of £24 million to partially back the UK unfunded pension liabilities. Other schemes in Cable & Wireless Communications have a net IAS 19 surplus of US$14 million (US$17 million surplus at 31 March 2014).

Dividend

For the financial year 2014/15 the Board is recommending a final dividend of US2.67 cents per share. Combined with the interim dividend of US1.33 cents paid in January, this will total a full year dividend of US4 cents per share, in line with the 2013/14 distribution.

For 2015/16 the Board has confirmed that, subject to financial and trading performance, it expects to recommend a dividend of US4 cents per share.

Subject to shareholder approval, the final dividend will be paid on 7 August 2015 to ordinary shareholders on the register at the close of business on 29 May 2015.

A currency option and the dividend reinvestment plan will be offered in respect of the interim dividend. The default currency for payment is sterling. Shareholders wishing to receive their dividend in US dollars or wishing to participate in the dividend reinvestment plan should make an election using CREST Input Message or return a completed Currency Mandate Form or Dividend Reinvestment Plan Mandate Form to: Equiniti Ltd, Aspect House, Spencer Road, Lancing, West Sussex, BN99 6DA by 10 July 2015. Copies of the mandate forms are available from Equiniti Ltd. UK callers: 0871 384 2104; overseas callers: +44 (0)121 415 7052 or from our website www.cwc.com.

The sterling dividend payment amount per share will be announced on 16 July 2015, and will be based on the prevailing GBP sterling to US dollar exchange rate at 2:00pm BST on that date.

Transactions

Disposal of Monaco Telecom

On 20 May 2014, CWC completed the disposal of Compagnie Monegasque de Communication SAM (CMC), which was the holding company for CWC’s 55% stake in Monaco Telecom S.A.M. (Monaco Telecom). At completion, CWC received consideration of €321,788,000 (US$445 million) on a cash and debt free basis. In addition, CWC received €6.2 million (US$8.6 million) relating to the estimated cash, debt and working capital at completion.

Bahamas Telecommunications Company

On 24 July 2014, CWC completed the transfer of 2% of its 51% holding in BTC to The BTC Foundation, a charitable trust dedicated to investing in projects for the benefit of Bahamians. The 2% shareholding is not entitled to any voting rights and therefore CWC has retained majority voting rights in BTC as well as remaining the largest overall shareholder. CWC will maintain management and Board control of the business.

Acquisition of Grupo Sonitel

On 12 September 2014, Cable & Wireless Panama completed the acquisition of Grupo Sonitel for US$36 million plus contingent consideration of up to an additional US$5 million. Grupo Sonitel operates SSA Sistemas, a provider of end-to-end managed IT solutions and telecoms services to business and government customers in Panama, as well as in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Peru; and Sonset, a provider of IT solutions and services to Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) customers in Panama. Logistica, an IT hardware reseller and a small number of other non-core Grupo Sonitel companies, were not included as part of the transaction.

Disposal of Solomon Telekom

On 15 October 2014, CWC announced that it had agreed to divest its 32.577% shareholding in Solomon Telekom Company Limited (Soltel) to the Solomon Islands National Provident Fund Board for total cash proceeds of approximately US$16.5 million. The transaction completed on 24 October 2014.

Acquisition of Columbus International Inc.

On 31 March 2015, Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) completed the purchase of 100% of the equity of Columbus International Inc, a leading privately-owned fibre-based telecommunications and technology services provider operating in the Caribbean, Central America and the Andean region, for a consideration comprising USD708 million in cash and 1,558 million CWC shares.

Appendices

Consolidated income statement 21 Consolidated statement of comprehensive income 22 Consolidated statement of financial position 23 Consolidated statement of changes in equity 24 Consolidated statement of cash flows 25 Reconciliation of net loss to net cash flow from operating activities 26 Additional information 27

Operating performance information

CWC constant currency results detail 35 KPI detail 37 Exchange rates 38 EBITDA by currency 38 Important disclaimer 39

Extracts from the financial statements and additional information Consolidated income statement

Pre-
exceptional Exceptional

2014/15

Total US$m

Pre- exceptional items US$m

Restated* 2013/14

Exceptional
items Total

US$m US$m

– 1,689

(174) (1,317)

– (204) – (31) – – – (15)

(174) 122 (67) (62)

(241) 60 – – – 6

(25) (164) (266) (98) 19 (32)

(247) (130)

– 1,081 (247) 951

(229) 859 (18) 92 (247) 951

Continuing operations
Revenue 1,753

(104) (127)

– – –

1,753 1,689

items items US$m US$m

Operating costs before depreciation, amortisation and impairment

(1,168)

(1,272) (336)

(1,143) (204)

Depreciation and impairment (209)

Amortisation (47)

Other operating income 42

Other operating expense (62)

Group operating profit/(loss) 309

(47) (31)

42 (62) 78

– (15)

296 5

301 – 6

(139) 168 (51)

117

1,081 1,198

1,088 110 1,198

Share of profit/(loss) of joint ventures and associates

(231)
– 12

12 Total operating profit/(loss) 321

(231) 90 – 4 – 26

(37) (121)

(268) (1) 33 (32)

(235) (33)

– 354

(235) 321

(205) 253 (30) 68

(235) 321

9.7c 9.7c

(3.8)c (3.8)c

13.5c 13.5c

Gain on sale of businesses 4 Finance income 26 Finance expense (84) Profit/(loss) before income tax 267 Income tax (expense)/credit (65) Profit/(loss) for the year from

continuing operations Discontinued operations

Profit after tax for the year from discontinued operations

202

354 Profit/(loss) for the year 556

Profit/(loss) attributable to:
Owners of the Parent Company 458 Non-controlling interests 98

Profit/(loss) for the year 556 Earnings per share attributable to the owners of the

Parent Company during the year (cents per share)1 – basic

– diluted

Loss per share from continuing operations attributable to the owners of the Parent Company during the year (cents per share)

– basic – diluted

Earnings per share from discontinued operations attributable to the owners of the Parent Company during the year (cents per share)

– basic – diluted

34.3c 34.3c

(8.4)c (8.4)c

42.7c 42.7c

*The results have been restated for the classification of Monaco in discontinued operations (note 5) and for Seychelles within continuing operations (note 3). 1 Includes discontinued operations

21

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income

2014/15 2013/14 US$m US$m

Profit for the year

Other comprehensive (expense)/income for the year comprised: Items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss in subsequent periods:

Actuarial losses in the value of defined benefit retirement plans Income tax relating to items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss

321

(8) ––

951

(77)

Net other comprehensive loss not to be reclassified to profit or loss in subsequent periods

(77) (8)

Items that are or may be reclassified to profit or loss in subsequent periods:
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations
Foreign currency translation reserves recycled on disposal of operations Foreign currency translation reserves recycled on held for sale associate Fair value gain/(loss) on available-for-sale financial assets

Income tax relating to items that may be reclassified to profit or loss

(11) (3) (94) (7) (30) –

3 (3) – –

Net other comprehensive loss to be reclassified to profit or loss in subsequent periods

(132) (13)

Other comprehensive expense for the year, net of tax

(209) (21)

Total comprehensive income for the year, net of tax

112 930

Total comprehensive income attributable to:

Owners of the Parent Company Non-controlling interests

42 836 70 94

112 930

Consolidated statement of financial position

ASSETS
Non-current assets
Intangible assets
Property, plant and equipment
Investments in joint ventures and associates Available-for-sale financial assets
Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss Other receivables
Deferred tax asset
Retirement benefit assets

Current assets

Trade and other receivables
Inventories
Loans to related parties
Cash and cash equivalents (see note 5)

Assets held for sale

Total assets

LIABILITIES
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables
Borrowings
Financial liabilities at fair value through profit or loss Provisions
Current tax liabilities

Liabilities held for sale

Net current assets/(liabilities)

Non-current liabilities

Trade and other payables Borrowings
Financial liabilities at amortised cost Deferred tax liabilities
Provisions
Retirement benefit obligations

Net assets

Equity
Capital and reserves attributable to the owners of the Parent Company Share capital
Share premium
Reserves

Non-controlling interests

Total equity

31 March 31 March 2015 2014 US$m US$m

2,954 526 2,523 1,418 1 188 59 58 14 – 158 170 51 34 17 20

5,777 2,414

587 433 50 36 56 –

402 205

1,095 674 165 70

1,260 744

7,037 3,158

771 612 82 58 – 274 119 140 118 121

1,090 1,205 – 23

1,090 1,228

170 (484)

373 26 2,686 797 879 – 225 27 99 42 209 199

4,471 1,091 1,476 839

224 133 260 97 652 259

1,136 489 340 350

1,476 839

Consolidated statement of changes in equity

Balance at 1 April 2013

Profit for the year
Actuarial losses recognised (net of tax)

Foreign currency translation reserves recycled on disposal of operations
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations

Fair value movements in available-for-sale financial assets
Total comprehensive (expense)/income for the year

Share-based payments
Dividends
Total dividends and other transactions with Cable & Wireless Communications Plc shareholders

Dividends paid to non-controlling interests Transfers on sale of subsidiaries
Total dividends and other transactions with non-controlling interests

Balance at 31 March 2014

Profit for the year
Actuarial losses recognised (net of tax)

Foreign currency translation reserves recycled on disposal of operations
Foreign currency translation reserves recycled on held for sale associate
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations

Share Share capital premium US$m US$m

133 97

 

133 97

Foreign
currency Capital

translation and and hedging other reserve reserves US$m US$m

32 3,321

– – – –

(7) – (7) –

– (3)

(14) (3)

Retained
earnings Total

US$m US$m

(3,832) (249)

859 859 (6) (6)

– (7) – (7) – (3)

853 836

Non-
controlling Total

interests equity US$m US$m

501 252

92 951 (2) (8)

– (7) 4 (3) – (3)

94 930

– 6 – (100)

– (94)

(76) (76) (169) (173)

(245) (249)

350 839

68 321 (1) (77)

– (94) – (30) 3 (11)

– –6 6 – – (100) (100)

– – (94) (94)

– –– –

– (30)

– (30)

18 3,288

– – – –

(94) – (30) – (14) –

26 (4)

26 (4)

(3,047) 489

253 253 (76) (76)

– (94) – (30) – (14)

Fair value movements in available-for-sale
financialassets –––3–3–3

Total comprehensive (expense)/income for
the year –

Lock-up and put option arrangements – Issuance of ordinary shares 91 Equity share-based payments – Dividends – Total dividends and other transactions

  • –  (138) 3
  • –  – (879)

163 – 1,312

  • –  – –
  • –  – –

177 42

– (879)

– 28

(104)

(76)

– (6)

(6)

(2,952)

70 112

– (879) – 1,566 – 28 – (104)

– 611


(6) 6 –

(6) (80) (86)

1,136 340 1,476

with Cable & Wireless Communications Plc shareholders

Dividends paid to non-controlling interests Transfer of BTC non-controlling interests Total dividends and other transactions with non-controlling interests

Balance at 31 March 2015

91 163

224 260

– 433

(120) 3,724

1,566 28

(104)

611

(86) (86)

24

Consolidated statement of cash flows

2014/15 US$m

Cash flows from operating activities
Cash generated – continuing operations (page 26) 431 Cash generated – discontinued operations 1 Income taxes paid – continuing operations (52) Income taxes paid – discontinued operations –

Net cash from operating activities 380

Cash flows from investing activities
Finance income 4 Dividends received – Purchase of available-for-sale assets (1) Proceeds on disposal of property, plant and equipment 1 Purchase of property, plant and equipment (399) Purchase of intangible assets (57) Proceeds on disposal of subsidiaries (net of cash disposed) 16 Loans to related parties (56) Acquisition of subsidiaries (net of cash acquired) (677)

Net cash used in continuing operations (1,169) Disposal proceeds (net of cash disposed and transaction costs) for discontinued operations 403 Other discontinued operations (1)

Discontinued operations 402

Net cash from investing activities (767)

Net cash flow before financing activities (387)

Cash flows from financing activities
Dividends paid to owners of the Parent Company (104) Dividends paid to non-controlling interests (86) Repayments of borrowings (176) Finance costs (128) Proceeds from borrowings 900 Proceeds on issuance of shares 176 Proceeds on sale of CMC shares – Unwind of sale of CMC shares –

Net cash used in continuing operations 582 Discontinued operations –

Net cash used in financing activities 582

Restated* 2013/14

US$m

421 116 (54)

(3)

480

6 4 – 5

(234) (132)

– – –

(351) 1,127

(53)

1,074

723

1,203

(100) (72) (1,138) (141)

162 – 100

(100)

(1,289) (4)

(1,293)

Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents – continuing operations Net increase in cash and cash equivalents – discontinued operations Cash and cash equivalents at 1 April
Exchange movements on cash and cash equivalents

(208) (1,273) 403 1,183 208 297

(1) 1

Cash and cash equivalents at 31 March 402 208

* The results have been restated for the classification of Monaco in discontinued operations (note 5) and for Seychelles within continuing operations (note 3).

25

Reconciliation of loss for the year to net cash generated

Restated* 2014/15 2013/14

Continuing operations US$m US$m

Loss for the year

Adjustments for:
Tax expense
Depreciation before exceptional items
Amortisation 47 31 Impairment 127 –

(33) (130)

32 32 209 204

Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment Gain on sale of businesses
Finance income
Finance expense after exceptional items

Other income and expenses
Increase in exceptional provisions
Employee benefits
Defined benefit pension scheme contributions
Defined benefit pension scheme other contributions Share of profit after tax of joint ventures and associates

1 – (4) – (26) (6)

121 164 (16) 15 38 52 14 11

(6) (6) (52) – (12) 62

Operating cash flows before working capital changes

Changes in working capital
(excluding the effects of acquisitions and disposals of subsidiaries)

Increase in inventories
(Increase)/decrease in trade and other receivables Increase/(decrease) in payables

440 429

(4) (6) (39) 38

34 (40)

Cash generated from continuing operations 431 421

* The results have been restated for the classification of Monaco in discontinued operations (note 5) and for Seychelles within continuing operations (note 3).

26

Additional information
1 Significant accounting policies and principles
Whilst the financial information included in this announcement has been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards adopted by the European Union (IFRS), this announcement does not itself contain sufficient information to comply with IFRS. The Group’s 2014/15 Annual Report and Accounts are prepared in accordance with IFRS.

The accounting policies applied by the Group in this announcement are the same as those applied by the Group in its consolidated financial statements as at and for the year ended 31 March 2015. The adoption of IFRS 10 Consolidated financial statements and IFRS 11 Joint arrangements had no material impact on the Group. The disclosures required under IFRS 12 Disclosures on interests in other entities will increase in line with the standard in the Annual Report and Accounts.

The financial information in this announcement represents non-statutory accounts within the meaning of Section 435 of the Companies Act 2006. The auditors have reported on the statutory accounts for the year ended 31 March 2015. Their report was (i) unqualified, (ii) did not include a reference to any matters to which the auditors drew attention by way of emphasis without qualifying their report and (iii) did not contain a statement under section 498 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006. These accounts will be sent to the Registrar of Companies following the Company’s Annual General Meeting. A separate dissemination announcement with the Disclosure and Transparency Rules (DTR) 6.3 will be made when the annual report and audited financial statements are available on the Group’s website.

Going concern

After making enquiries, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.

2 Shares outstanding at year end and weighted average number of shares

On 7 November 2014, a total of 252,812,284 new ordinary shares of US5 cents each in the capital of the Company were placed by Deutsche Bank AG (cash box placement) at a price of 45 pence per placing share, raising gross proceeds of US$180 million (excluding equity transaction costs of US$4 million). The placing shares being issued represented 10% less one share of the issued ordinary share capital of the Company prior to Placing.

On 31 March 2015, a total of 1,557,529,605 new ordinary shares of US5 cents each in the capital of the Company were issued to the Principal Vendors (as defined and further described in the circular to shareholders dated 19 November 2014). These shares represent approximately 36% of the ordinary share in CWC (excluding treasury shares).

3 Segment information

Cable & Wireless Communications Group is an international telecommunications service provider. It operates integrated telecommunications companies offering mobile, broadband, TV, fixed line and managed services and other to residential and business customers. The Group has modified its operating segments following the disposal of Monaco which has been classified as discontinued operations (note 5) and the reclassification of Seychelles to continuing operations. From 1 April 2014, the Board (the chief operating decision maker) considers the performance of BTC (Bahamas) separately from that of LIME (rest of Caribbean). During the year the Group had four principal operations which have been identified as the Group’s reportable segments, being Panama, LIME, BTC and Seychelles. Our business-to-business and business-to-government operations are included in the results of the region to which they relate.

At 31 March 2015 At 31 March 2014 ‘000 ‘000

Number of shares in issue
Shares held in treasury
Shares held by employee share ownership trust

4,475,954 (137,489) (9,141)

2,665,612 (137,489) (24,660)

Number of shares outstanding 4,329,324 2,503,463

Weighted average number of shares outstanding during the year used for the EPS calculation

2,615,055 2,501,990

The Group also has an ‘other’ operating segment which is comprised of the corporate centre, operational hub, results of our sub-sea cable partnership and wholesale solutions business and eliminations for inter-segment transactions. This segment does not meet the definition of an operating segment as it earns revenue from its activities that are less than 10% of overall Group revenue. This function primarily acts as an operational support provider for the reportable segments.

The Board considers the performance of each of these operations in assessing the performance of the Group and making decisions about the allocation of resources. Accordingly, these are the operating segments disclosed. There are no other operating segments identified by the Board. The operating segments are reported in a manner consistent with the internal reporting provided to the Board.

Other and
Continuing operations Panama LIME BTC Seychelles eliminations1 Total Year ended 31 March 2015 US$m US$m US$m US$m US$m US$m

Revenue 636

Cost of sales (223)

Gross margin 413

Pre-exceptional operating costs (172)

EBITDA2 241

Depreciation, amortisation and
impairment (101)

709 348 52 (154) (67) (8)

555 281 44

(317) (159) (25)

238 122 19

(88) (43) (10)

8 1,753 (6) (458)

2 1,295

(37) (710)

(35) 585

(14) (256) (31) (20) (22) (231)

(102) 78

13 12

(89) 90

4 4 (112) (95)

(197) (1)

22 (32)

(175) (33)

(5) (52)

Net other operating income/(expense)

Exceptional costs

Group operating profit/(loss)

Share of (loss)/profit after tax of joint ventures and associates

Total operating profit/(loss)

Gain on sale of businesses

Net finance (expense)/income

Profit/(loss) before income tax

Income tax (expense)/credit

Profit/(loss) for the year from continuing operations

Income taxes paid3

21 (10) (9) (175)

152 (35)

– –

152 (35)

– – (8) 24

144 (11)

(36) (9)

108 (20)

(24) (16)

– – (25) –

54 9

– (1)

54 8

– – – 1

54 9

(1) (8)

53 1

(1) (6)

  1. 1  Other and eliminations includes the corporate centre and operational hub expenses, results of our sub-sea cable partnership, wholesale solutions business and eliminations for inter-segment transactions and the results of our joint ventures and associates.
  2. 2  EBITDA is used in management reporting as it is considered by management to be a key financial metric. It is defined as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, net other operating and non-operating income/expense and exceptional items (note 4).
  3. 3  Income taxes paid represents cash tax paid during the year by consolidated subsidiaries.

Other and
Continuing operations (restated) Panama LIME BTC Seychelles eliminations1 Total Year ended 31 March 2014 US$m US$m US$m US$m US$m US$m

Revenue
Cost of sales
Gross margin
Pre-exceptional operating costs EBITDA2
Depreciation and amortisation Net other operating expense Exceptional operating costs

Group operating profit/(loss)

Share of loss after tax of joint ventures and associates

Total operating profit/(loss)

Net finance (expense)/income

Profit before income tax

Income tax (expense)/credit

Profit/(loss) for the year from continuing operations

Income taxes paid3

576 691 354 53 15 1,689 (182) (153) (65) (7) (11) (418)

394 538 289 46 4 1,271

(155) (368) (161) (26) (15) (725)

239 170 128 20 (11) 546

(94) (89) (44) – (8) (235) – – – – (15) (15) (3) (120) (12) – (39) (174)

142 (39) 72 20 (73) 122

– – – (2) (60) (62)

142 (39) 72 18 (133) 60

(11) 14 1 1 (163) (158)

131 (25) 73 19 (296) (98)

(28) (5) (1) (5) 7 (32)

103 (30) 72 14 (289) (130)

(27) (17) (2) (4) (4) (54)

  1. 1  Other and eliminations includes the corporate centre and operational hub expenses, wholesale solutions business and eliminations for inter- segment transactions and the results of our joint ventures and associates.
  2. 2  EBITDA is used in management reporting as it is considered by management to be a key financial metric. It is defined as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, net other operating and non-operating income/expense and exceptional items (note 4).
  3. 3  Income taxes paid represents cash tax paid during the year by consolidated subsidiaries.

4 Exceptional items

There were US$231 million of exceptional operating expenses for the twelve months ended 31 March 2015 (31 March 2014: US$241 million). The charges included impairment of assets identified as redundant; primarily, copper plant and facilities in markets where CWC and Columbus overlap and legacy voice switches replaced as part of Project Marlin, as well as restructuring changes to yield synergies related to the Columbus transaction and a voluntary separation agreement in The Bahamas. US$241 million of expense in the prior period included charges for the Group cost reduction initiative and a charge of US$67 million in TSTT.

5 Discontinued operations
i) Monaco Telecom

At a General Meeting on 15 May 2014, shareholders of the Company approved the sale of Compagnie Monegasque de Communication SAM (CMC), the holding company for the Group’s 55% stake in Monaco Telecom SAM to a private investment vehicle controlled by Xavier Niel. Monaco Telecom also owned 36.75% of Telecom Development Company Afghanistan Limited (Roshan). The sale of the business was completed on 20 May 2014 for a total consideration of US$445 million. In addition, the Group received US$8.6 million relating to the estimated cash, debt and working capital at completion. The disposal is a further step in CWC’s strategy to focus on the Caribbean and Latin America region, and after completion of the disposal, as the Group now generates all of its revenue from the Caribbean and Latin America region, with the exception of the Seychelles.

The results of all discontinued operations are shown below:

Total discontinued Monaco operations

US$m US$m

Year ended 31 March 2015

Revenue 29 29 Expenses (20) (20)

Profit before tax 9 9

Tax (1) (1)

Profit after tax 8 8

Profit on disposal of discontinued operations 346 346

Profit for the year 354 354

Disposal costs (8) (8)

346 346

ii) Seychelles

As at 31 March 2014 the Seychelles was held for sale and net assets were US$47 million. This included cash and cash equivalents of US$3 million.

For the twelve months ended 31 March 2015, the Seychelles is now presented in continuing operations.

6 Changes in net funds

At 1 April Cash 2014 flow

US$m US$m

Capitalised v fees and amortisation

US$m

Transfers US$m

Acquisitions US$m

Exchange differences

US$m

Net cash
from At 31

discontinued March operations 2015

US$m US$m

Cash at bank and in
hand 89(176)––81(1)403396

Short-term deposits 116 (112) – – 2 – – 6

Total funds 205 (288) – – 83 (1) 403 402

Debt due within one
year (58)26–(47)(4)1–(82) Debt due after more
than one year

(797) (750)

26 47

(1,234) 22 –

(2,686)

(2,768)

(2,366)

Total debt Total net (debt)/funds

(855) (724)

(650) (1,012)

26 –

26 –

(1,238) 23 –

(1,155) 22 403

7 Provisions for liabilities and charges

Redundancy Property US$m costs

US$m US$m

Network and asset retirement obligations

US$m

Legal and
other Total

US$m US$m

At 1 April 2014 20

Acquisitions –

433089182

Business disposals Additional provisions Amounts used
Unused amounts released Exchange differences

At 31 March 2015

Current portion Non-current portion

– – 11 11 – (1) (2) (11) (14) – 802518123

(5) (37) – (29) (71) – (3) – (9) (12) – – (1) – (1)

15 82 52

12 512 3 31 50

69 218

54 119 15 99

The net expense recognised through profit or loss from movements in provisions relating to discontinued operations at 31 March 2015 was US$7 million (31 March 2014 – US$7 million).

Property

Provision has been made for dilapidation costs and for the lower of the best estimate of the unavoidable lease payments or cost of exit in respect of vacant properties. Unavoidable lease payments represent the difference between the rentals due and any income expected to be derived from the vacant properties being sublet. The provision is expected to be used over the shorter of the period to exit and the lease contract life.

Redundancy

Provision has been made for the total employee related costs of redundancies announced prior to the reporting date. Amounts provided during the period primarily relate to regional integration costs for merging the operations of the new combined group. The provision is expected to be used in the next two years. Amounts used during the period relate to regional transformation activities in the Caribbean.

Network and asset retirement obligations

Provision has been made for the best estimate of the unavoidable costs associated with redundant leased network capacity. The provision is expected to be used over the shorter of the period to exit and the lease contract life.

Provision has also been made for the best estimate of the asset retirement obligation associated with office sites, technical sites, mobile cell sites and domestic and sub-sea cabling. This provision is expected to be used at the end of the life of the related asset on which the obligation arises.

Legal and other

Legal and other provisions include amounts relating to specific legal claims against the Group together with amounts in respect of certain employee benefits and sales taxes. The timing of the utilisation of the provision is uncertain and is largely outside the Group’s control, for example, where matters are contingent upon litigation. There was a US$9 million release of litigation and claim exposures following a reassessment of exposures to the Group.

8 Reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP items Total operating profit to EBITDA

Restated 2014/15 2013/14

Continuing operations US$m US$m

Total operating profit

Depreciation and amortisation

Net other operating expense/(income)

Share of profit after tax of joint ventures and associates – pre- exceptional

Share of profit after tax of joint ventures and associates – exceptional

90 60 256 235 20 15

(12) (5) – 67

Exceptional items: operating 104 174 Exceptional items: impairment 127 –

EBITDA 585 546

The Group uses EBITDA as a key performance measure as it reflects the underlying operational performance of the businesses. EBITDA is not a measure defined under IFRS. It is calculated as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, net other operating and non-operating income and expense and exceptional items.

Basic Earnings Per Share (EPS) to Adjusted EPS

Restated Continuing operations 2014/15 2013/14 US cents US cents

Loss per share attributable to owners of the Parent Company Exceptional items1
Acquisition related transaction costs1
Amortisation of acquired intangibles1

Foreign exchange (gains)/losses on financing activities Gain on disposal of businesses

(3.8) (8.4) 7.9 9.2 2.1 – 0.2 0.1

(1.5) 1.3 (0.2) –

Adjusted EPS attributable to owners of the Parent Company 4.7 2.2

Weighted average number of shares (million) 2,615 2,502

1 Excluding amounts attributable to non-controlling interests

Adjusted EPS is before exceptional items, acquisition related transaction costs, amortisation of acquired intangibles, foreign exchange (gains)/losses on financing activities and gain on disposal of businesses.

9 Business Combinations
i) Columbus International Inc.

On 6 November 2014, CWC agreed to acquire 100% of the equity of Columbus International Inc. (Columbus) a leading privately-owned fibre-based telecommunications and technology services provider operating in the Caribbean, Central America and the Andean region with approximately 700,000 residential customers.

In the Caribbean, Columbus is one of the leading providers of triple-play cable TV and broadband enabled services over its proprietary fibre optic network infrastructure. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Columbus Networks, Columbus provides backhaul connectivity to 42 countries in the region, as well as capacity and IT services, corporate data solutions and data centre services throughout the Caribbean, Central American and the Andean region. Columbus also provides next generation connectivity and IT solutions, managed networking and cloud- based services under the brand Columbus Business Solutions. This transaction is in line with the strategy outlined in May 2014 to drive mobile leadership, accelerate fixed-mobile convergence, reinforce our video offer and grow the B2B/B2G business.

On 31 March 2015, the acquisition was completed for consideration of US$2,121 million comprising a mixture of cash, the Company’s shares, capitalised share option amounts and the fair value of put options written to the principal Columbus vendors which are detailed below.

US$m

Cash 708 Shares in CWC 1,287 Fair value of put options 103 Replacement share option awards 23

Total consideration 2,121

The Group has made a provisional assessment of the fair values of the assets and liabilities as at the acquisition date based on estimated total consideration of US$2,121 million.

Fair value Book value adjustments US$m US$m

Provisional fair value US$m

Intangible assets 174 Goodwill –

513 687 2,034 2,034 36 1,077 – 7 – 14 – 9 – 23 – 144 – 5 – 80

(3) (171) – (1,234) – (16)

(112) (197) – (341)

2,468 2,121

1,041 7 14 9 23 144 Inventories 5 Cash and cash equivalents 80

Trade and other payables (168) Borrowings (1,234)

Property, plant and equipment Assets held for sale
Assets held at fair value Other receivables

Deferred tax assets
Trade and other receivables

Current tax liabilities Deferred tax liabilities Other non-current payables

Total

(16)

(85) (341) (347)

Due to the timing of the acquisition, on the last day of the financial year, the assessment of the fair value of assets and liabilities at the acquisition date will be subject to change and the accounting for the acquisition will be updated in the prescribed 12 month period.

The goodwill recognised of US$2,034 million on acquisition was based on the provisional assessment of the fair values of assets acquired and liabilities assumed. Goodwill arising on the acquisition includes the value of the workforce and expected synergies resulting from the integration into the existing business that did not meet the recognition criteria set out in IAS 38 Intangible Assets as they were unable to be separately identified.

ii) Grupo Sonitel

On 12 September 2014, the Group, through its subsidiary Cable & Wireless Panamá, S. A. (CWP), agreed to acquire Panama-based Grupo Sonitel for US$36 million plus contingent consideration of up to an additional US$5 million. Grupo Sonitel operates SSA Sistemas, a provider of end-to-end managed IT solutions and telecoms services to business and government customers in Panama, as well as in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Peru; and Sonset, a provider of IT solutions and services to Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) customers in Panama.

This transaction is in line with the strategy outlined in May 2014 to grow business (B2B) and government (B2G) capabilities.

The Directors has made a provisional assessment of the fair values of the assets and liabilities as at the acquisition date based on estimated total consideration (including contingent consideration) of US$39 million:

Fair value
Book value adjustments Fair value

US$m US$m US$m

Property, plant and equipment 2 -2

Goodwill –
Customer contracts and relationships –
Brands – 66

13 13 17 17

Other net assets 5

Total 7

(4) 1

32 39

2014/15 CWC CONSTANT CURRENCY RESULTS DETAIL

Panama
2014/15 2013/14 Change

US$m US$m %

LIME
2014/15 2013/14 Change

US$m US$m %

BTC
2014/15 2013/14 Change

US$m US$m %

Seychelles 2014/15 2013/14 Change

US$m US$m %

Other3
2014/15 2013/14 Change

US$m US$m %

Total
2014/15 2013/14 Change

US$m US$m %

Mobile
Broadband and Video
Fixed voice
Managed services and other Revenue
Cost of sales
Gross margin
Operating costs
EBITDA2
Depreciation and amortisation

Net other operating income/ (expense)
Operating profit before joint

ventures and associates and exceptional items

351 336 4% 69 64 8%

106 113 (6)% 110 63 75%

299 268 11% 103 103 – 196 202 (3)% 111 104 7%

250 258 (3)% 15 15 – 49 45 9% 34 36 (6)%

29 28 4% 11 9 22% 88-

4 3 33%

−−− −−− −−−
8 15 (47)%

929 890 4% 198 191 4% 359 368 (2)% 267 221 21%

636 576 10%

(223) (182) (23)%

709 677 5%

(154) (149) (3)%

348 354 (2)%

(67) (65) (3)%

52 48 8%

(8) (7) (14)%

8 15 (47)%

(6) (11) 45%

1,753 1,670 5%

(458) (414) (11)%

413 394 5%

(172) (155) (11)%

555 528 5%

(317) (359) 12%

281 289 (3)%

(159) (161) 1%

44 41 7%

(25) (24) (4)%

2 4 (50)%

(37) (15) nm

1,295 1,256 3%

(710) (714) 1%

241 239 1%

(101) (94) (7)% 21 − nm

238

(88) (10)

169 41%

(88) – – nm

122 128 (5)%

(43) (44) 2% -−-

19 17 12%

(10) − nm −−−

(35)

(14) (31)

(11) nm

(8) (75)% (15) nm

585

(256) (20)

542 8%

(234) (9)% (15) (33)%

161 145 11%

140 81 73%

79 84 (6)%

9 17 (47)%

(80) (34) nm

309 293 5%

Capital expenditure

Operating cash flow1

(126) (79) (59)%

115 160 (28)%

(195) (100) (95)%

43 69 (38)%

(75) (51) (47)%

47 77 (39)%

(12) (9) (33)%

7 8 (13)%

(34) (9) nm

(69) (20) nm

(442) (248) (78)%

143 294 (51)%

nm represents % change not meaningful
1 EBITDAlesscapitalexpenditure
2 Earningsbeforeinterest,tax,depreciationandamortisation,netotheroperatingandnon-operatingincome/(expense)andexceptionalitems
3 Otherincludesmanagement,royaltyandbrandingfees,thecostsofthecorporatecentreandoperatinghub,netUKdefinedbenefitpensionchargeorcreditandintercompanyeliminations

H2 2014/15 CWC CONSTANT CURRENCY RESULTS DETAIL

Panama
H2 14/15 H2 13/14 Change

US$m US$m %

LIME
H2 14/15 H2 13/14 Change

US$m US$m %

BTC
H2 14/15 H2 13/14 Change

US$m US$m %

Seychelles
H2 14/15 H2 13/14 Change

US$m US$m %

Other3
H2 14/15 H2 13/14 Change

US$m US$m %

Total
H2 14/15 H2 13/14 Change

US$m US$m %

Mobile
Broadband and Video
Fixed voice
Managed services and other Revenue
Cost of sales
Gross margin
Operating costs
EBITDA2
Depreciation and amortisation

Net other operating income/ (expense)
Operating profit before joint

ventures and associates and exceptional items

175 168 4% 35 33 6% 52 55 (5)% 72 33 nm

156 51 98 60

136 15% 52 (2)% 100 (2)%

51 18%

124 7 25 21

129 (4)% 8 (13)%

20 25% 22 (5)%

13 14 (7)% 6 4 50% 44-
2 1100%

— — —

4 8 (50)%

468 447 5% 99 97 2%

179 179 – 159 115 38%

334 289 16%

(123) (90) (37)%

365 339 8%

(81) (71) (14)%

177 179 (1)%

(34) (34) –

25 23 9%

(4) (3) (33)%

4 8 (50)%

(2) (8) 75%

905 838 8%

(244) (206) (18)%

211 199 6%

(88) (76) (16)%

284 268 6%

(146) (177) 18%

143 145 (1)%

(80) (77) (4)%

21 20 5%

(12) (12) –

2 – nm (27) (12) nm

661 632 5%

(353) (354) 0%

123 123 –

(53) (50) (6)% – – nm

138

(47) (10)

91 52%

(44) (7)% (1) nm

63 68 (7)%

(22) (21) (5)% 1 – nm

9 8 13%

(3) – nm —

(25)

(8) (9)

(12) nm

(4) (100)% (6) (50)%

308

(133) (18)

278 11%

(119) (12)% (7) nm

70 73 (4)%

81 46 76%

42 47 (11)%

6 8 (25)%

(42) (22) (91)%

157 152 3%

Capital expenditure

Operating cash flow1

(68) (44) (55)%

55 79 (30)%

(105) (61) (72)%

33 30 10%

(48) (28) (71)%

15 40 (63)%

(8) (5) (60)%

1 3 (67)%

(23) (6) nm

(48) (18) nm

(252) (144) (75)%

56 134 (58)%

nm represents % change not meaningful
1 EBITDAlesscapitalexpenditure
2 Earningsbeforeinterest,tax,depreciationandamortisation,netotheroperatingandnon-operatingincome/(expense)andexceptionalitems
3 Otherincludesmanagement,royaltyandbrandingfees,thecostsofthecorporatecentreandoperatinghub,netUKdefinedbenefitpensionchargeorcreditandintercompanyeliminations

KPI DETAIL

2013/14

2014/15

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Subscribers (000s)

Panama

Mobile1 Broadband Fixed line

BTC

Mobile1 Broadband Fixed line

LIME

Mobile1 Broadband Fixed line

Seychelles

Mobile1 Broadband Fixed line

1,907 129 376

300 17 115

994 210 583

81 6 17

15.8 29.0 26.1

70.7 70.1 37.4

23.1 37.9 30.9

31.6 127.1 45.1

1,909 129 374

305 19 114

1,094 214 582

82 6 17

14.7 28.8 25.4

64.9 65.3 34.1

21.4 38.7 29.4

28.6 130.2 43.4

1,958 130 372

307 21 104

1,191 217 582

82 7 17

14.5 28.5 24.7

65.8 67.5 30.7

19.7 36.7 28.6

29.7 125.9 43.9

1,961 131 372

308 23 103

1,198 218 580

83 7 17

13.8 28.7 24.6

62.8 54.4 36.6

18.6 36.3 29.3

33.8 123.4 41.7

2,502 132 369

308 24 103

1,211 216 574

83 7 17

14.6 28.8 24.4

64.8 54.8 38.7

19.4 36.3 28.6

31.6 131.2 39.0

2,184 132 369

311 24 102

1,236 219 574

84 7 18

14.4 29.2 24.6

60.0 50.8 40.4

19.6 35.7 28.0

29.1 132.6 37.5

2,246 131 367

314 25 100

1,333 221 575

86 7 18

13.2 29.7 24.3

60.4 51.1 38.1

20.0 35.6 29.0

27.1 125.7 36.7

2,087 132 366

318 25 99

1,328 224 578

87 7 17

13.6 29.3 23.1

59.9 48.5 43.5

19.0 35.1 27.7

26.3 131.1 32.4

ARPU (US$)2

Panama

Mobile Broadband Fixed line

BTC

Mobile1 Broadband Fixed line

LIME

Mobile1 Broadband Fixed line

Seychelles

Mobile1 Broadband Fixed line

1 Active subscribers are defined as those having performed a revenue-generating activity in the previous 60 days. Historic subscriber numbers have been restated to exclude subscribers with credit balances but no activity in the preceding 60 days

2 ARPU is average revenue per user per month, excluding equipment sales

CURRENCY INFORMATION Exchange rates

Actual rates for year ended 31 March 2015

Actual rates for year ended 31 March 2014

Percentage change US dollar appreciation / (depreciation)

Sterling : US dollar

Average 0.6206 Period end 0.6705

Jamaican dollar : US dollar

Average 112.6438 Period end 114.8900

Seychelles Rupee : US Dollar

Average 13.1440 Period end 13.7550

0.6313 (2)% 0.6059 11%

102.7058 10% 109.1550 5%

11.9863 10% 12.1713 13%

US dollar : Sterling

Average 1.6114 1.5840 Period end 1.4915 1.6504

Cable & Wireless Communications EBITDA by currency for year ended 31 March 2015

US$m % of total

US dollar, pegged or linked Seychelles rupee Jamaican dollar
Total

523 90 19 3 43 7

585 100

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER

This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as assumptions about future events. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate only to historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements often use words such as anticipate, target, expect, estimate, intend, plan, goal, believe, will, may, should, would, could or other words of similar meaning. Undue reliance should not be placed on any such statements because, by their very nature, they are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and can be affected by other factors that could cause actual results, and Cable & Wireless Communications’ plans and objectives, to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.

There are several factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements are changes in the global, political, economic, business, competitive, market and regulatory forces, future exchange and interest rates, changes in tax rates and future business combinations or dispositions. A summary of some of the potential risks faced by Cable & Wireless Communications is set out in the Group’s most recent Annual Report.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and Cable & Wireless Communications undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement contained within this announcement, or any other forward-looking statements it may make, regardless of whether those statements are affected as a result of new information, future events or otherwise (except as required by the UK Listing Authority, the London Stock Exchange, the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers or by law).

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