Cable & Wireless annual results ending 31st March 2006
International subsidiaries continue to perform solidly
Recent reports
Tech quarterly: Dark side of the boom
15 May 2025US tariffs and regulations are sparing no one in 2025—Microsoft, the ‘winner’ of the earnings quarter, is still making plans to protect its European business in a doomsday scenario.
Hyperscalers who have piled their eggs into cloud cannot afford a misstep—this is driving record capex to satisfy cloud demand. We expect to see lumpiness in Q2-Q3, feeding investors’ worries.
Revenue impacts have been felt first at US retail, softening ad demand, with the UK relatively protected for now. Despite relief at the 90-day ‘reset’ with China, economic and political uncertainty remains the story of the year.
The slowdown in telecoms traffic volume growth post-pandemic has persisted for far longer than a simple hangover effect would imply, and has spread from fixed broadband to mobile in many markets
The eventual emergence of the metaverse and/or AI-generated traffic may mitigate this trend, but it is hard to see growth ever returning to a sustained 30%+ per annum level, with around 10-15% likely to prove the new normal
While far from disastrous for telcos, it does have important implications, such as the need to structure pricing more carefully, focus on network quality over capacity, and be more wary of the threat (or opportunity) from MVNOs, FWA and satellite
ITV Q1 2025: Studios shifts, ITVX steadies
15 May 2025ITV's total external revenue rose 4% year-on-year in Q1 (to £756 million), although a material drop in internal Studios sales (down by £41 million) meant a decline in total group revenue (-1% to £875 million). Ad revenue was down 2% and will face tough men's Euros comparisons for the next two quarters
Even with continuing online growth, ITV's overall viewing continues to decline. However, ITVX usage is displaying favourable characteristics that could foretell greater resilience and volume
Further, although the levels of viewing on the ad-tiers of the major SVOD services is analogous to ITVX, the difference in how well that viewing is monetised is stark