Losses Double For Telewest

Cable operator Telewest has today announced third quarter financial results which show that losses have doubled year-on-year from £29.4m to £59.1m. This is despite revenue increasing 127% to £73.1m.

Telewest also said that its network was 61% complete and now had almost 700,000 residential customers, while churn amongst cable viewers declined from 46% to 39.5%. Commenting on the results, Stephen Davidson, acting chief executive of Telewest, said that the company remained in a position to benefit from the “exciting and fundamental consolidation” which the UK cable industry is currently going through.

The picture presented by Telewest’s results, of increasing losses combined with increasing revenue, is indicative generally of the cable industry at present and reflects figures from the large industry players such as General Cable, Videotron, Nynex and Bell Cablemedia. Most of the industry now believes however that the way forward is for companies to combine their networks, infrastructure and marketing efforts in an effort to reduce churn rates further and increase penetration. The merger between C&W, Bell Cablemedia, Nynex and Videotron was perhaps the first important step in this process *Cable Companies Merge.

* MediaTel subscribers only

Telewest: 01483 750900