Fourth-quarter pre-tax profit soared to 13.5 mln eur from 8.9 mln in the same quarter last year. Full-year pre-tax pre-ex profit rose to 39.2 mln eur from a loss of 9.5 mln.
Commenting on the results, Rakesh Bhasin, Chief Executive Officer, said: "We continued to make good progress in 2007. We reorganised the business into three customer facing business divisions - Major Enterprise, SME and Wholesale - more closely aligning our organisation to the market.
"I am particularly pleased to report that Data revenue growth continues to accelerate, with growth of 9.8 per cent in 2007, up from 6.9 per cent in 2006. Data revenue represented over 50 per cent of Group revenue. During the year we invested in four new Data centres bringing the total number of COLT Data centres to 18 across Europe.
"This was our first full financial year of profitability. The results for the fourth quarter also show sustained progress: Data revenues grew by 10 per cent, margins were up by 3.7 percentage points, EBITDA was up 1.3 per cent and profit grew by €4.6m. During the quarter we opened our second site in India, this time in Bangalore; and our new Data centres in London and Amsterdam.
"We expect 2008 to be another year of progress for our business."