By Business & Finance 
Pictured (L-R): Ian Hyland, Business & Finance; Richard Moat, eir; Gerard Corcoran, AIB Private Banking
Under the leadership of Richard Moat, eir has undergone significant transformation across its business and its brand.
In September, eircom Group announced it was changing its name to eir after undergoing a rebrand costing an estimated €16m.
Speaking about the rebrand, Richard Moat, CEO, eir said: “We have changed and our customer focus is changing. The evolution of the products and services that we offer to our customers continues at pace. The speed of our ongoing network investment brings the people of Ireland closer to each other and brings Ireland closer to the world.
“The new eir identity is dynamic and modern. It reflects our real ambition to become just that, a dynamic and progressive Irish organisation providing the high quality infrastructure and services the country needs and deserves,” he continued. “We are proud of our history and our origins, but the time is right to modernise. Changing our brand is part of that evolution. This is the logical next stage in our evolution as we establish an identity that better reflects the company that we are today. The marketplace has changed, technologies have changed, eircom as a company has changed and we have to continue to evolve, to maintain our relevance and lead a very dynamic market.”
Earlier in the year fourth quarter results for the telecommunications company EBITDA for the full year was €481m, an increase of 3%, driven by improving revenue performance and sustained cost reductions. Year on year mobile EBITDA growth of 62% and encouraging TV uptake were key contributors to the overall growth.
Commenting on the results Moat said: “This has been a transformative year in the financial and operational performance of the Group. We passed a symbolic milestone in June, recording year on year revenue growth in the quarter for the first time in seven years, driven by both our fixed and mobile segments. It is the result of implementing a consistent strategy over the past three years centred on network investment that has provided much improved product capability and compelling propositions to all our customer segments. 25% of customers now avail of our TV or mobile bundles and we remain the only operator in the market to offer a quad play of services.
“Our significant investment programme has continued with over €290m invested during the past financial year, part of more than €1bn invested over the past three years. Today, Ireland’s largest fibre network reaches 1.3 million homes and businesses. This will continue at pace as we expand our network footprint to 1.9 million premises to help ensure that the economic recovery reaches all parts of the country. Later this month we will introduce fibre to the home technology as a commercial service that will offer speeds of up to 1,000Mb/s (1Gb/s).”
The Group added 28,000 customers in the last twelve months since June 2014 to the mobile base, which stood at 1,083,000 customers.
In the mobile segment, EBITDA for the quarter grew to €22m and €58m, increases of 67% and 62% respectively. Mobile revenue was €87m for the quarter, 4% higher compared to the previous year and the EBITDA margin was 25%, the highest it has been for more than five years. Revenue for the year ended June 30th was €352m, €5m higher compared to the same period last year.
CV highlights
- Richard Moat was named CEO of eir (previously eircom) late last year.
- Previously he was chief financial officer and executive director, roles he had held since 2012.
- Moat has extensive telecommunications experience, as managing director of T-Mobile in the UK and CFO at Everything Everywhere, formed from a merger of T-Mobile and Orange Mobile.
