|
Telewest losses widen
|
 |
June 5, 2001: 5:43 a.m. ET
UK cable operator losses worse, but reduced churn and turnover up by third
|
LONDON (CNN) - UK cable operator Telewest reported wider first-quarter losses, but says it has lost fewer subscribers and increased turnover by a third.
Shares in Telewest, which is 25.2 percent owned by U.S. programming giant Liberty Media (LMG: Research, Estimates) and 24 percent by Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates), fell 3.2 percent in London after the results were announced.
Telewest, (TWT) the smaller rival of NTL, Britain's other cable television provider, suffered a net loss of £209 million for the quarter to March 31, compared to a loss of £137 million for the same period a year ago.
The company blamed the larger loss on the acquisition of television content provider Flextech in April last year.
It had led to a £28 million increase in amortisation, £25 million in depreciation and £33 million in interest payable due to the increased size of the group and extra borrowing.
Turnover rose 34 percent to £321 million, with revenue per household rising 4 percent to £38.80 a month. Telewest said an increasing number of customers were taking at least two of its television, telephony and Internet services.
Television churn – customers dropping their subscriptions – fell to 23.7 percent, down 2.9 percentage points on a year ago, while telephony churn fell by 1.3 percentage points.
The company said 12,000 subscribers to its broadband blueyonder Internet service had been added in the quarter, paying between £25 and £33 per month and adding significantly to the growth in revenues.
"The force of the bundle is with us. We are the champions of the all you can eat cyber buffet, giving our customers unlimited fixed-price telephony, unlimited fixed-price hi-speed Internet, unlimited fixed-price dial-up Internet and multi-channel television," said Chief Executive Adam Singer in a statement. 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
