JT Group today (6 June) publishes its Annual Review for 2016. This shows a 14% increase in operating profit on the previous year. Therefore, 2016 was a strong year with gross profit rising by 1% to £90.7m, mainly generated by JT’s highly successful international machine-to-machine1 business, enabling JT to deliver a healthy dividend back to its ultimate owners, the people of Jersey. The dividend paid to the States of Jersey increased from £4.1m to £5.5m.
In 2016, Jersey consolidated its position as one of the most connected places on earth. With 84% of broadband customers directly connected to fibre. Therefore, the Island is now in second place in the world, and in first place in Europe, in terms of the percentage of broadband homes directly connected to super-fast, fibre-optic services.
JT’s super-fast 4G mobile networks in Jersey and Guernsey also became, officially, the fastest in the Channel Islands, as verified by Speedtest by Ookla, the world’s most popular internet performance testing service.
Growth in International Business
The year saw considerable growth in JT’s international business, which now accounts for 65% of the company’s revenue. A particular focus is the Internet of Things (IoT), which is not only an exciting emerging global technology but also allows JT to utilise the 600+ roaming agreements it has with other operators around the world. JT SIM cards now connect more than one million devices worldwide. The division charged with developing the company’s international business – JT Wholesale – grew by 29% in 2016.
Closer to home, the IoT is enabling JT to offer new communications technologies to its customers in Jersey. In December, the company launched the Channel Islands’ first low-power radio network (‘LoRa’), which allows devices to share data securely.
1. Machine to Machine (or M2M): direct communication between devices via a mobile network.
2. Internet of Things: A system of interrelated devices that have the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.
3. LoRa (LongRange): A wide area, low frequency radio network for wireless battery-operated devices that requires very little power to run. It is ideally suited for simple and regular data transfer, such as monitoring air pollution.
A Strong Set of Results
JT CEO, Graeme Millar, commented: “Against a background of intense competition and global uncertainty, this is a strong set of results. 2016 was a year of investment, diversification, relationship-building and growth in areas that we believe will offer substantial returns for many years to come.
“The most obvious is the continuing roll out of our Gigabit project in Jersey. With 84% of broadband customers now having fibre connected directly to their homes, we are extremely close to all broadband households having a superfast connection to the internet. The significance of this milestone should not be under-estimated and we expect to finish connecting practically all broadband households to fibre within the next 12 months.
“This set of results is also dependent on our customers and I thank them for their loyalty and engagement. Their willingness to work in partnership with us helps JT to provide the services they need to remain connected.
Always Improving
“Although last year’s performance across the Group was strong, we know we have much more to achieve, and have already been working hard in 2017 to make sure our service is always improving.”
JT Group Chairman, John Stares, added: “I would like to thank the team for their hard work in delivering this solid set of results for 2016, which means we have increased our value to our shareholder through a healthily increased dividend.
“JT’s international growth is impressive but it in no way means that the company is less committed to our Channel Islands’ home. On the contrary, growing revenues internationally not only means that we can invest more in our local network, it also means that our shareholder has extra funds to invest in essential infrastructure and services.”
ENDS
Issued by Julien Morel at Direct Input. Telephone 01534 735253 or email
julien@directinput.je for more information.
CEO Graeme Millar is available for interview from 1430 on Tuesday 6 June. Please contact Julien to arrange. To see a copy of JT’s 2016 Annual Review & Financial statements visit: www.jtglobal.com/annualreview
NOTES TO EDITORS
JT is a full-service Tier-1 global consumer and business enterprise provider based in the Channel Islands with over 120 years’ experience. JT offers a domestic and global customer base a range of world-class services including; voice and data; consultancy; co-location; leading-edge data hosting; internet; security; cloud back-up; fixed and mobile technologies; e-Gaming; M2M (see footnote); cloud services, fully managed IT services; and wholesale solutions. Hence, across 11 global locations, JT employs over 600 staff. These staff provide products and services to over one million global consumer subscribers. Also to 2,177 active business customers. JT has an international presence across Europe, Asia and the United States that has aided its evolution in becoming a leading supplier in roaming services.