NBN Co says its on track to reach its 2023 targets, as it slashes losses and boosts revenue by 4 per cent for the last year of 2022.
The company tasked with delivering the National Broadband Network still posted a net loss after tax of $44 million — not ideal, but far better than the $857 million it bled the year prior.
Capital expenditure was up 22 per cent, to $1.4billion for the half, which it credits to the rollout of its FTTP residential and business upgrade – more than 8.5 million premises are now connected.
It raised $2.6 billion in debt, and repaid $875 million of its tax-payer loan. Although there is still $5.5 billion still owing, NBN Co managed to pay off a substantial chunk of this during the half-year.
NBN Co. points to its ARPU (average revenue per user) as a key indicator of success, which is up 1 per cent to $47.
EBITDA is up 20 per cent, to $1.8 billion.
“We are pleased to report that we are on track with all key financial and operational performance metrics at the half-year to meet our full year guidance,” CEO Stephen Rue says.
“Our network upgrades are also progressing well as we prepare Australia’s digital backbone for the increasing demand for speed and capacity in years to come.”
On Monday, NBN Co announced a further one million premises are now eligible to receive FTTP connections.