Digicel’s rings up operating profit nears US$1b

Digicel Group’s is reporting an operating profit of about US$1 billion last calendar year, up from the US$726 million EBITDA it posted for 2009, according to Business Observer calculations based on data released by ratings agency Fitch last week. In its most recent ratings of Digicel — which operates in 30 markets across the Caribbean, El Salvador and the Pacific — Fitch placed the ratio of total debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and ammortisation (EBITDA) at 4.9 times, while total debt was approximated at US$4.6 billion. More