Arqiva confirms it is mulling sale amid solid 9M results

UK transmission services outfit Arqiva has confirmed that its shareholders are undertaking a strategic review that could lead to a sale of the company.

Reporting solid nine months results to the end of March, Arqiva said that there was no certainty the review would result in a transaction, but that a further announcement would be made as and when appropriate.

Arqiva posted revenues growth of 11%, driven by 8% growth in terrestrial broadcast revenue and strong growth in telecoms and machine-to-machine communication.

EBITDA was up 12% to £351 million. Operating cash-flow after investment grew by £155 million year-on-year to £326 million.

Arqiva said its terrestrial broadcast performance had been boosted by new video streams on its main multiplexes, recurring revenues from new DTT channels, radio contracts and revenue from the continuing clearance of 700MHz spectrum.

As of March 31, Arqiva’s two main DVB-T multiplexes had 31 video streams, all of which were utilised.

“Arqiva’s strong financial results are driven by excellent operating performances in terrestrial broadcast, telecoms and M2M.The visibility of revenues with a contracted order book of close to £6 billion, inflation-linked pricing, and the opportunity to increase utilisation of our infrastructure, places Arqiva in a very strong position to continue to deliver stable profitable growth,” said CEO Simon Beresford-Wylie.

“Our ongoing and significant investment in digital broadcast infrastructure; 4G, 5G, in-building solutions and small cells underlines Arqiva’s commitment to ensuring that the UK truly has a vibrant and globally competitive economy. Alongside our growth strategy, our transformation programme, ‘FutureFit‘, is lowering our cost base; aligning the way we work to better reflect market developments and the needs of our customers; and strengthening our ability to deliver complex projects.”