October deadline for VHA staff review

VHA expects to have finalised its current extensive review of its newly merged workforce by the end of September, the mobile carrier's chief executive Nigel Dews said today.

VHA CEO Nigel Dews
(Credit: Suzanne Tindal/ZDNet.com.au)

The telco recently asked employees to re-apply for their roles, with internal interviews and a selection process currently under way. The company is believed to have more than 3500 staff in total in the local market.

"What we're doing at the moment is we're merging the two head office functions and the state offices," Dews said on a results briefing call.

"In that process, inevitably there is duplication of positions. We've now really completed the appointment of about one-third of the head office positions, with two-thirds still to run. By the end of the quarter we expect to have the head office positions fully sorted and the state offices largely sorted."

In answer to a question of whether any senior staff had resigned or been made redundant, Dews said the re-shuffle was affecting all levels of the organisation. The executive did not provide any specific details about the carrier's plans to integrate its IT support systems and rationalise its suppliers.

The news came as Hutchison Telecommunications Australia (HTAL) reported a $552 million net profit for the six months to 30 June, which it attributed to its merger with Vodafone Australia. The half a billion net profit represented a 764 per cent jump on its figures reported for the same period last year. The results today reflected five months under its former guise as "3", and one month relevant to its activities under VHA.

"As a result of the transaction the company reports a $552 million profit for the six months to 30 June 2009," HTAL said in its half year accounts. The abnormally large net profit was due to the disposal of its 50 per cent stake in the "3" business of $587.3 million. "The net loss before gain on merger was $35.3 million, a $42.3 million improvement," HTAL reported.

Total revenue for the half year was $912.5 million, up by 19 per cent, with earnings before income tax depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), up 12 per cent to $97.8 million.

Non-voice revenue increased 45.2 per cent to $303 million, which included a 41.3 per cent increase in 3G service revenue. Non-voice services contributed 33.8 per cent of VHA's Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), which increased 29 per cent on last year's figures. VHA said it now held 6.3 million customers, with 926,000 mobile broadband subscribers.

Despite the growth in mobile broadband revenue, VHA's overall ARPU fell 7.8 per cent over the last year to $62.62. Voice ARPU dropped 14 per cent from $48.25 last June to $41.44 this half. Non-voice ARPU, which includes 3G data and SMS, grew on average by 7.7 per cent over the year.

Non-voice, non-SMS revenue per user showed the highest growth at 15.7 per cent. These customers net the company $10.49 per month. Including SMS, non-voice services contributed 33.7 per cent of its revenue, equal to $21.17 of the $62.62.

"The number of customers accessing ... the internet reflects the strong uptake in mobile broadband and increasing appetite for 3G services, in particular open internet access," the company said in its report.

It also reported increasing its network footprint under Hutchison's 3GIS joint venture with Telstra to 2732 sites, and claims to cover 56 per cent of the population.

The second stage of Vodafone's 3G expansion program, which currently reaches 80 per cent of the population, is expected to reach 94 per cent by 31 August. Vodafone currently has 3942 sites.

VHA confirmed it will also be taking back in-house its Vodafone-branded stores. "We are making good progress with all integration work required to create the new Vodafone Hutchison Australia business," said Dews. "The merger gives VHA the scale to compete more effectively in the Australian market. During the next half year and beyond we'll fully integrate the businesses."