Virgin Media adds 20,400 TV customers in Q2
Virgin Media added just 20,400 TV customers in the second quarter, giving the service a total of 3.7 million subscribers, while its broadband customer base was up by 5,100 to 3.7 million.
BSkyB published its annual results last week, which showed that it is gaining subscribers at its fastest rate for five years, adding 462,000 customers to take its subscriber base to a 9.4 million, well ahead of Virgin (see Sky reports 6% ad revenue decline).
However, in results released today, Virgin said that usage of its video-on-demand service rose to 55% of digital customers, up from 48% a year ago, with its highest ever average VOD views of 62 million per month.
Its average revenue per user was £43.27 a month, up from £41.68 last year. Revenues were down £4 million year on year, to £936 million, while operating cashflow was static at £334 million.
Neil Berkett, Virgin Media CEO, said: “I am pleased to report strong consumer on-net revenue growth and record ARPU during another quarter of solid financial performance. Our strong free cash flow is underpinned by good cost control and a high quality customer base. This reflects the success we have had in delivering and monetizing a compelling and highly competitive consumer proposition which exploits our strengths in broadband and video-on-demand. The growth outlook for the second half of the year remains strong.
“We have now reached a landmark milestone with the completion of our next generation network, which successfully demonstrates our drive to redefine the high-speed broadband market in the UK. More than 12 million homes now have access to 50Mb broadband, the fastest commercially available product in the UK, and we continue to innovate with our customer pilot of 200Mb.
“Our successful bond issues, over the last few months, reflect the market’s confidence in our business and growth prospects. We believe we remain well-positioned to meet the wider economic challenges and to continue to provide our customers with more reasons to choose Virgin Media.”