Tesco Mobile returns to profit thanks to Samsung Galaxy
Tesco Mobile returned to profit thanks to Brits’ demand for premiums handsets such as the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, it has been revealed.
The provider, which is a joint venture between the supermarket giant and Virgin Media 02, has posted a pre-tax profit of £1.2m for 2024, new accounts filed with Companies House show.
The figure comes after the business fell to a pre-tax loss of £449,000 in 2023.
The loss came after Tesco Mobile reported a pre-tax profit of £8.3m in 2022.
The new results also show that the firm’s revenue increased during its latest financial year from £1bn to £1.1bn.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 series was released at the end of January 2024 and was one of the major new handsets launched in the UK last year.
Tesco Mobile hails ‘strong performance’
A statement signed off by the board said: “The group delivered a strong performance in 2024 in a highly competitive mobile telecommunications market where overall handset market size continued to decline.”
Tesco Mobile added that its revenue increased in the year thanks to a rise in sales of premiums handsets.
The company also said: “Market pressures and changes in customer behaviour saw a decline in prepay, partially offsetting postpay growth leaving the total closing customer base at 5.7m (2023: 5.5m).”
Tesco Mobile and Virgin Media 02 signed a ten-year renewal of their 50:50 joint venture agreement at the end of January 2024.
The business was established in 2003 and became a joint venture in 2017.
Virgin Media 02 hit the headlines earlier this year when it announced plans to create a new communications and IT giant which is expected to turn over around £1.4bn.
The group agreed to combine its direct B2B (business to business) operations with Lancashire-based Daisy Group.
The new division will be led and chaired by Daisy Group founder Matthew Riley while Virgin Media O2 Business’ managing director Jo Bertram will serve as its chief executive.