LONDON (Reuters) – British fibre broadband company CityFibre reported its first full year of profit in 2024 as connected customers on its network passed 500,000, a total that is set to jump this year when major provider Sky joins its platform.
The company, backed by Antin Infrastructure Partners and Goldman Sachs, on Tuesday reported adjusted core earnings of 5 million pounds ($6.18 million) for the year compared with a loss of 55 million pounds in 2023.
Revenue increased by 34% to 134 million pounds, driven by a 73% rise in consumer revenue as it added 181,000 net new customers, taking its total to 518,000.
Chief Executive Greg Mesch said 2024 had been a “definitive year” for the company, which competes with national provider BT Openreach and Virgin Media.
“We achieved our first full year of profitability, signed a new strategic partnership with Sky, which doubled our retail sales capacity, and solidified our position as the UK’s leading independent wholesale network,” he said.
He said CityFibre had perfected its processes to serve more than 40 internet service providers across its network, which stretches to 4.3 million premises.
“We could operate a 6, 8, 10, 12 million footprint with roughly the same amount of people,” he said in an interview, referring to staffing levels.
CityFibre, which is aiming to expand its 100% wholesale network to more than 8 million premises, will add another 1 million this year.
It has shifted its strategy from mainly funding and building its own network to include more participation in government contracts to build in rural areas and the acquisition of smaller providers such as Lit Fibre, which it bought in May.
Mesch said CityFibre was working on further consolidation opportunities. “We have a full funnel of M&A that we could do this year,” he said.
($1 = 0.8097 pounds)
(Reporting by Paul Sandle)
