NTL has admitted paying more than £100 million to employees and advisers as it sought to maintain stability during its recent refinancing operation.
The UK cable firm yesterday reported a pre-tax loss of £1.65 billion for 2002, compared to a loss of £8 billion in 2001. Earnings were up by almost 50% (see
NTL Sees Earnings Up 48% In 2002) but the company incurred exceptional charges of £657 million, in part related to the cost of emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US (see
NTL Rescue Plans Revealed).
NTL’s UK staff and executives received motivational bonuses totalling £24 million while lawyers, bankers and accountants who acted as consultants and negotiated new loan deals were paid £77 million over the year. Earlier this year, bondholders agreed a £7 billion debt-for-equity swap and the exit from Chapter 11 was heralded as a “new beginning” for the long suffering operator (see NTL Emerges From Bankruptcy).
Barclay Knapp, chief executive at NTL, said that the company expected to gain 24,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2003. Over 150,000 TV subscribers left NTL last year but subscribers to the company’s broadband internet services trebled to more than 650,000.
