REVERSING a long-time trend, Cable and Wireless Communications PLC (CWC) saw a 22 per cent increase in profits from its Caribbean territories, for the first six months of the year, according to Phil Bentley, CWC CEO.

This marks a turnaround for the company in the Caribbean, as historically profits have declined year-on-year.

“Last year was the first time we stemmed those declines, and this year is the first we have had growth,” Bentley said during a teleconference yesterday.

The company, which it was recently reported is in buy-out talks with Liberty Global, saw total group profit increase by four per cent to US$427 million, while revenue was up four per cent to US$1.2 billion for the first six months of the year. The growth was even better — five per cent — “if you equalise for devaluation” in Jamaica and other territories, he said.

“I feel we are starting to see some momentum,” Bentley said.

One of the best performing areas was mobile traffic, which is up some 93 per cent. “We are having to invest in more upgrades to carry that increased traffic,” he said.

“Some 46 per cent of our customers have smartphones,” he said. This is still lower than America or Europe, he said, but added that smartphones at a cost of less than US$100 are “very popular”. New customer growth was particularly large in Jamaica, Barbados and Panama.

Mobile data has increased by 17 per cent in the first six months, Bentley said, and now represents “over 40 per cent of total mobile revenue. I can see that overtaking voice in the next couple years”.

Meanwhile, fixed- oice continues to decline, with more customes relying on their mobile phones.

CWC has also been disconnecting a growing number of its TV service customers. “We have had to disconnect customers who haven’t paid for six months, up to 12 months,” Bentley said. As a result, “we have a lower base now”, he said. But the company has seen growth of three per cent in TV services and is expecting more.

The company is also moving bigger into sports and is creating a new state-of-the-art broadcasting studio in Trinidad.

On call centres, he noted again that a new call centre will be located in Jamaica, bringing back 350 jobs from El Salvador, where a call centre was opened “before my time”. Another call centre will be opened in Trinidad, bringing back jobs from India, he said.

Moving on to the Flow rebrand, Bentley said that all but three Caribbean territories have been rebranded, with Trinidad completing its rebrand last week. The exceptions are St Vincent, St Lucia and Grenada, as those territories currently don’t have full agreement on the integration.

A total of 103 out of 130 stores have now been rebranded to Flow, Bentley said.