Losses at telecoms firm Imagine narrow to €12.2m

Imagine, whose founder Sean Bolger died earlier this year, saw its revenue edge 5pc higher to €33.8m in 2022.

The telecoms group had accumulated losses of €195m at the end of 2022 and a shareholders’ deficit of €6.7m.

The Irish group is controlled by Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management, which first took a stake in Imagine back in 2018.

The accounts show that while Imagine generated adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of €4.8m last year, there was a €9m cash outflow from operating activities during the year. Its adjusted Ebitda last year was €1.2m.

“The group has continued to invest in the LTE/5G project, giving the group a strong strategic position for the future by providing an essential element of Ireland’s future broadband infrastructure,” the directors noted in the accounts.

“In January 2023, Imagine was successful in securing additional spectrum,” they added.

The new spectrum is in the 2.3Ghz and 2.6Ghz bands, which Imagine said are strategically important to delivering 5G services.

“This additional spectrum gives the group a further 50MHz of scarce and valuable spectrum on a national basis,” according to the directors. “Imagine now holds a total of 100MHz of 5G spectrum across rural Ireland, which further enhances the products and services it can provide.”

The company added that it now has a “substantial” network across rural Ireland and that it is delivering data usage to customers similar to that of fibre networks.

The directors said the group is now focused on adding more customers, which they said will “greatly accelerate” the already positive Ebitda performance.

While Imagine’s operating loss last year of €3.9m was substantially lower than the €12.7m operating loss it made in 2019, ballooning interest payments pushed it deeper into the red for 2022.

Last year, the group’s interest bill rose to €8.2m from €7.1m.

The accounts show that the amount of debt at the group falling due after a year rose to €76.7m at the end of 2022, from €69.2m a year earlier.

Mr Bolger died in February this year at the age of 58. He was the former chief executive of Imagine and left that role in 2022, but continued to be a board member of the group. He established Imagine in 1998.