NTL Losses Down As Customer Base And Revenues Grow
Cable operator NTL yesterday announced that customer expansion and revenue growth has helped narrow year-on-year profit loss for the second quarter of 2004.
Revenues from April to June 2004 jumped £28.3 million on the same quarter last year to £397.8 million, driving profit loss down to £7 million from £51 million in 2003.
The New-York listed group said that increased revenue was mainly due to new broadband and telephone subscriptions which were up 324,500 and 139,800 respectively. The additions were particularly significant for broadband, which saw revenues boosted by 12% on the previous quarter to £7.8 million.
Chief executive officer, Simon Duffy, said: “NTL continues to achieve substantial progress on its stated objectives of increased market penetration, revenue growth, margin expansion and enhanced cash flow.”
For the forth consecutive quarter, NTL Home exceeded its target of 50,000 new subscribers to reach 60,500, putting NTL well on-track to meet its longer-term goal of 50% customer penetration of marketable homes by the end of 2008. This division also contributed significantly to improvements in profit, increasing by £12.5 million to £176.2 million.
Looking forward, Duffy added: “As I look to the second half of 2004, I expect continued progress on all four of our stated objectives. This reflects an improving sales pipeline, the expected delivery of product enhancements, the already announced price increases in NTL:Home and the continued execution of our key restructuring initiatives.”
According to recent reports in the press, NTL Europe and Telewest are being urged by shareholders to begin merger talks to form a single company with a market value of $7 billion. However, so far, the groups have refused to comment.
NTL: 01256 752000 www.ntl.com
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