Staff cut of 205 brings AAPT profit

AAPT reported declining revenues today in its second quarter results to 31 December, but a similarly declining expense base, including headcount reductions, has brought a growth in earnings.

AAPT CEO Paul Broad
(Credit: AAPT)

AAPT delivered a NZ$66 million result to its parent company for the six months to 31 December, up from NZ$51 million for the same period in the previous year according to the company's financial statements.

For the six months ending 31 December, revenues saw a contraction year on year of 14.7 per cent to $458 million, while expenses saw a reduction of 18.8 per cent to $402 million.

Part of this cost reduction has come from taking the knife to headcount. Over the half year to 31 December, AAPT had reduced the number of full-time employees from 1331 to 1166. Contractor numbers also took a fall, almost halving from 93 to 53. Labour costs decreased by $9 million as a result, to $70 million for the half.

The permanent headcount reduction at AAPT was largely the result of natural attrition, according to AAPT spokesperson Tahn Shannon.

Other areas in which the telco reduced its expenses were in inter-carrier costs, which dropped by $62 million to $230 million in the half, thanks to a reduction in lower-margin customers and moving customers "on-net".

The company also made savings by transitioning to a call centre in Manila, renegotiating IT support contracts and lowering bad debt expenses.

"AAPT's result was driven by a continued focus on removing cost from our business, combined with strong new sales in business and wholesale," Paul Broad, CEO of AAPT said in a statement.