Fastweb growth boosts profits for 2009

Swisscom-owned Italian triple-play service provider Fastweb had 1.644 million customers at the end of last year, up 11% compared with the end of 2008.

The company posted revenues of €1.853bn, up 8.5% year-on-year, exceeding its 5% growth target by a healthy margin. The consumer division accounted for 38% of revenues, with an increase of 6% on the 2008 figure taking the total to €697m. Consumer ARPU continued to fall, dropping 3% over the year, a lower rate of decline than in 2008.

EBITDA stood at €551m, up 6.4% and just short of the company’s target for the year. Fastweb turned in a net profit of €36m, compared with a profit of €1m for 2008.