Colt gets its Voice back

Revenue was up at Colt, the business communications firm, during the first three months to March 31st with the company experiencing growth across all major product categories.

Year-on-year group revenue rose 5.2% from €377.6m to €397.3m, with the under pressure Voice division contributing around half of the overall growth. In 2011, the Voice division saw turnover fall by 7.7%, so the first quarter represents a return to growth for the division.

Group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of €80.6m (Q1 2011: €77.0m) represented year-on-year growth of 4.7%. The EBITDA margin remained largely stable at 20.3% (Q1 2011: 20.4%).

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The company also announced on Friday that it has secured an anchor tenant for a new modular data centre to be built in the Netherlands. Colt expects to commence operation of the data centre in early 2013.

Net funds as at March 31st amounted to €269.9m (December 31st 2011: €343.7m).

Rakesh Bhasin, Chief Executive Officer, said: "We have seen an increasingly positive reaction in the market to our information delivery platform during the quarter. Our pipeline has continued to grow, particularly in managed services, and we remain confident that we will see further growth in revenue this year."

NR