
London, UK, 22 September 2020: Arqiva, the UK's leading player in critical network infrastructure services for the broadcast and utility sectors, announces its results for the year ended 30 June 2020.
Highlights
Group refocused on broadcast and utilities infrastructure following £2bn sale of Telecoms business to Cellnex announced in October 2019 and completed post year-end.
Significant investment in core infrastructure continued, maintaining unique base and leading position within industry.
Successful delivery of major programmes including smart metering and 700MHz clearance, with key coverage and clearance targets achieved respectively.
Strong financial control enabled continuing operations EBITDA to remain flat year-on-year, despite expected revenue decline following peak activity in the 2019 financial year.
New CEO Paul Donovan appointed on 20 April 2020.
Financial Results Group revenue decreased 11.2% during the year to £879.9m, as expected due to
one off contractual fees and end of legacy contracts, managed exit of the Occasional
Use satellite distribution, and reductions on the 700MHz Clearance programme as the
programme neared completion. Revenue from continuing operations declined 10.0% year-on-year to £677.5m.
EBITDA was roughly flat for both the Group at £522.4m and for Arqiva's continuing operations at £391.0m. The Group's EBITDA performance benefited in 2020 from the 2019 implementation of IFRS 16.
Net cash inflow from operations was down 2.3% to £475.3m, while net capital expenditure was flat at £115.4m (2019:115.3m).
Paul Donovan, CEO of Arqiva, commented:
Having delivered solid financial performance in 2020, Arqiva is now entering a period of evolution. Our focus is now squarely on maintaining our position as the number one provider of broadcast infrastructure in the UK and establishing ourselves a leading player in the utilities market. With a newly refocused organisation supported by a stronger financial position, I feel we are well-positioned to capitalise on the opportunities ahead of us.
Sale of the Telecoms Business In October 2019, Arqiva announced the agreement for the sale of its Telecoms business to Cellnex for c. £2.0bn. The transaction included divestment of c. 7,400 of Arqiva's cellular sites, including masts and towers as well as urban rooftop sites, and the right to market a further c.900 of Arqiva's retained sites across the UK. Relevant staff within the Telecoms business also transferred to the Cellnex business as part of the transaction.
Following the announcement of the sale of the Telecoms business and the resulting deleveraging of the Arqiva group, in June 2020 Moody's announced a one notch upgrade (to Ba2/B1) for the junior debt. Fitch and S&P maintained the ratings existing prior to the sale with senior and junior debt at BBB (Fitch/S&P) and B- (Fitch) respectively.
Highlights from Arqiva's Continuing Business Terrestrial Broadcast DTT remains the primary platform medium within the broadcast market, currently reaching 98.5% of the UK's population. Arqiva's main (DVB-T) multiplexes remain highly utilised with 90% of capacity sold as at 30 June 2020.
The uptake of TV viewing on the DTT/Freeview platform was also particularly strong during the lockdown period as more people stayed at home and utilised our services to stay informed, minimise social isolation and increase entertainment. The wide reach of the DTT platform has been of vital national importance for delivering news and other information to the whole nation and for supporting society during the current pandemic.
Like many sectors, commercial radio in the UK was impacted by Covid-19 with a reduction in revenue as many businesses cut advertising budgets. Discussions between Arqiva, the government and the radio industry resulted in a reduction of fees for independent commercial radio customers across both DAB and analogue. Despite the loss of advertising revenue, informal indications are that the volume of hours of radio listening increased during the lockdown as more people tuned in to radio for news and entertainment. With the easing of lockdown restrictions, we expect radio advertising to increase again as companies strive to regain market share and rebuild their businesses. The latest figures from industry data provider RAJAR show that 58.6% of listening is now to digital radio platforms (Q1 2020) with DAB representing more than two thirds of digital consumption. This has helped keep the first national commercial DAB multiplex, Digital One (wholly owned by Arqiva) at 100% occupancy.
Utilities Roll-out of Arqiva's network for Thames Water network continued during 2020, with over 480,000 meters installed and well over 10 million meter-readings being delivered per day. In June 2020 Thames Water announced that round-the-clock data from smart meters across London has helped it achieve what it described as the water industrys biggest reduction in leakage this century .
The successful delivery of this contract has been boosted by a new contract secured with Anglian Water, signed in June 2020 following an open competitive procurement process. Arqiva will deploy its fixed network infrastructure to support the operation of over three-quarters of a million (789,000 target by 2025) smart water meters across 24 planning zones. Arqiva will then operate the infrastructure for a further 15 years. Covering both household and non-household properties, the project will support Anglian Water's target Planning Zones including Norwich, Lincoln, Northampton and Peterborough, among others.
During the year Arqiva was also selected by Yorkshire Water to deliver and monitor a smart metering fixed-network trial as part of its plans to revolutionise its leakage detection programme. This two-year exercise will see Arqiva build and monitor the fixed-netw
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
20/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/05/2026
First Nations Factual Co-production Development Fund launched to elevate Indigen...
19/05/2026
The winner of Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist of the Year 2025, Tracy Bonareri Onchoke, and runner up Wangu Kanuri enjoyed a three-day trip to London ...
19/05/2026
Cisco and the USGA have announced a multiyear extension of their partnership, which began in 2018. Cisco serves as the Official Technology Partner of the USGA, ...
19/05/2026
Urban Edge Network (UEN), a streaming platform for NAIA sports, has announced a partnership with Spiideo to provide streaming and production tools to UEN's ...
19/05/2026
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) will provide live coverage of all 900 Roland-Garros matches across its platforms beginning with qualifiers on May 18. In Europe, 21...
19/05/2026
Tubi, Fox Corporation's free streaming service, has announced the launch of the FIFA World Cup 2026 FOX Hub, a dedicated destination for World Cup programmi...
19/05/2026
Telef nica, in collaboration with Sony, has conducted a 5G connectivity trial at the Movistar Arena in Spain using the 26 GHz millimetre wave (mmWave) band. The...
19/05/2026
Ross Production Services (RPS) has installed a Calrec Argo M console into its new Hypermax-1 remote production truck, replacing one of three Argo S consoles pre...
19/05/2026
Panasonic Projector and Display Corporation has announced the acquisition of 100% of the shares of UK-based media technology company Hive Media Control Ltd. (HI...
19/05/2026
Globecast has announced the completion of a nine-month renovation of its Singapore facility, converting it from a traditional linear broadcast operation into a ...
19/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced a three-year enterprise agreement with Phoenix Broadc...
19/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that Watch Brasil, a streaming platform operating across Brazil and Europe since 2018, has replaced its legacy systems with Bitmovin'...
19/05/2026
Ateme has announced the migration of Dish Home Nepal's Nepal Premier League (NPL) streaming infrastructure to Ateme's TITAN Live solution deployed on Ak...
19/05/2026
CMSI provided workflow, media management, and HDR support for ESPN during coverage of the NCAA Gymnastics Semifinals and Championships. The company supported fi...
19/05/2026
In advance of this year's Sports Emmy Awards, SVG is taking a deep dive into the six production-technologies nominated for this year's George Wensel Tec...
19/05/2026
In advance of this year's Sports Emmy Awards, SVG is taking a deep dive into the six production-technologies nominated for this year's George Wensel Tec...
19/05/2026
Featuring a fully IP infrastructure, Supershooter 11 is intended for large-scale events. Enabling remote and distributed workflows, Supershooter 65 joins the RE...
19/05/2026
By Jessica Herndon
The line wrapped around the building outside Denver's La...
19/05/2026
Podcasting continues to evolve, and so does Spotify. As we build what comes next, one thing remains constant: This is a medium built on connection. It lives in ...
19/05/2026
Popular design joins Inherit cartridge line-up
When GC Audio introduced their modular Inherit system, it was available with a selection of the company's...
19/05/2026
Resonance-suppression plug-in gets ground-up rebuild
Following on from its 10-year anniversary, oeksound's flagship plug-in has just reached its third m...
19/05/2026
Dedicated FL Studio controller keyboard range refreshed
Novation's dedicated FL Studio controller family has just been upgraded, with four new models ex...
19/05/2026
Rohde & schwarz strengthens its in-vehicle networks test portfolio with the laun...
19/05/2026
Lawful Intelligence: Rohde & Schwarz stellt neues Portfolio f r moderne Polizeia...
19/05/2026
Press Release
18 May 2026, Johannesburg South Africa has been selected as the...
19/05/2026
When all companies in the market are allowed to compete under the same set of ru...
19/05/2026
Battle-proven technology withstands electronic warfare threats across air, maritime surface and subsea domains....
19/05/2026
WESCAM MX-Series EO/IR systems provide high-precision targeting across domains, including counter-UAS applications...
19/05/2026
Champaign, IL - March 16, 2026 Cobalt Digital, the leading designer and manufa...
19/05/2026
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. April 16, 2026 - Cobalt Digital today announced a partnership ...
19/05/2026
Las Vegas - April 18, 2026 Cobalt Digital, the leading designer and manufactur...
19/05/2026
LAS VEGAS April 18, 2026 - Advanced HDR by Technicolor and Cobalt Digital are ...
19/05/2026
LAS VEGAS - May 4, 2026 - Cobalt Digital, the leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing products, and a founding partner in the openGear initiativ...
19/05/2026
London - 11 May 2026 Cobalt Digital, the leading designer and manufacturer of award-winning signal processing products, and a founding partner in the openGear...
19/05/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
19/05/2026
Celebrating its ability to quickly adapt to changing requirements, Ross Production Services (RPS) has put its flexible infrastructure to good use, switching one...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Grass Valley has entered into a three-year enterprise agreement with Phoenix Broadcast Solutions as the Singapore-based company expands its live production oper...
19/05/2026
Clear-Com supported Musikal Perahu Kertas, a large-scale musical theater production in Indonesia adapted from the acclaimed novel by Dee Lestari, through the d...
19/05/2026
Actus Digital, a LiveU company, and a leading provider of intelligent media monitoring and broadcast compliance platforms, announced today that METEO CONSULT ha...
19/05/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of managed services for the broadcast and media industry, today announced the completion of a major renovation of its Singapore fa...
19/05/2026
Following a major upgrade to its Connecticut remote production centre with the installation of three 60-fader Argo S consoles in 2023, RPS has switched one of t...