By Gavin Lower
MELBOURNE--Hutchison Telecommunications Australia Ltd. (HTA.AU),
the half owner of Australia's third largest telecommunications
carrier Vodafone Hutchison Australia, said Monday it booked a 131.3
million Australian dollar (US$135.5 million) loss for the first
half of 2012.
Hutchison's share of VHA's revenue for the six months to June 30
fell 9% on year to A$1.04 billion, while its share of VHA's service
revenue fell 6% to A$874.9 million and share of earnings before
interest, tax, depreciation and amortization fell 21% to A$112
million.
The first half loss follows on from a A$78.2 million loss for
the same period last year and a full year loss in 2011 of A$167.7
million.
VHA has been suffering as since last year as customers left the
company in frustration at the performance of its mobile phone
service. It is investing more than A$1 billion to improve its
network.
Hutchison said 178,000 customers left VHA in the first half of
2012, reducing the company's customer base to 6.8 million. VHA's
customer base fell by 554,000 customers to 7 million in 2011.
"These results speak very clearly to a need to refocus on the
quality and consistency of the experience we deliver to our
customers," VHA Chief Executive Bill Morrow said in a
statement.
Mr. Morrow, who was appointed chief executive in March, said in
a presentation filed with the Australian Securities Exchange that
the company had "lost the trust and respect of many customers."
"We owe our customers an apology for the past and a commitment
for the future that we will rebuild our operations to prevent this
from ever happening again," Mr. Morrow said.
VHA is a joint venture between Vodafone Group PLC (VOD.LN) and
Hutchison Telecommunications Australia, which is majority owned by
Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (0013.HK).
Write to Gavin Lower at gavin.lower@wsj.com
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