BURNABY, B.C. – Strong sales at its existing and more recently acquired retail operations in Canada, the U.S. and Australia fuelled a 106% increase in first quarter sales for wireless retailer company Glentel Inc. compared to the same period last year.
Glentel (which runs Wireless Wave, Tbooth and other retail brands) reported first quarter consolidated sales of $305.7 million, compared to $148.3 million in Q12012. EBITDA also rose to $14 million compared to $7.2 million in the same period a year earlier. Net profit, however, stayed the same as Q12012, at $3.3 million or $0.15 per share.
The first quarter saw the retail company begin its rollout of its first Target Mobile stores (Glentel was chosen last fall as Target’s Canadian operator to carry its mobile communications products). Twenty-four new Target Mobile stores were opened in the Greater Toronto Area during the first quarter, followed by an additional 22 stores across British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba on May 7. Glentel plans to have 124 locations across Canada by the end of this year.
Canadian sales of Glentel’s retail mobile phone products, tablets and services decreased 1% to $89.4 million compared to $90.6 million. The company says it saw gross postpaid activations decline but experienced growth in hardware upgrades.
Sales for Glentel’s U.S. retail divisions Diamond Wireless and Wireless Zone were at $60.1 million and $103.2 million, respectively, while in Australia its newly acquired chain of Allphones retail stores reported sales of $45.6 million.
“We are pleased to report strong worldwide sales performance in the first quarter, with our Canadian, United States, and Australian operations all providing robust results,” said Glentel president and CEO Thomas Skidmore in a release. “With store expansions in Canada, U.S., and Australian, including our recent entry into the Philippines with our first four mall stores in Manila, growth opportunities seem abundant for Glentel, as we now operate in four countries on three continents.”
