TeleWest Announces Losses Of £53.4 Million

TeleWest plc, the UK’s largest cable company, announced losses of £53.4 million in its first quarter 1996 results. However, total revenue was up by 147% to £65.2 million. Cable television revenue increased by 125% to £28.1 million, whilst residential and business telephony were also both up by over 100% on the previous year.

The number of cable television customers has grown by 114% to 411,838. Penetration is stable at 21.6%, whilst the rate of churn is slowing; 40.7% compared to 47.7% in Q1 1995. Average monthly revenue per cable television customer increased to £23.12 (£22.61 Q1 1995) reflecting an increase in the average premium channels purchased per customer.

Alan Michels, Chief Executive of TeleWest, said, “Now that our network is over half-built, TeleWest will increase its focus on marketing and service development. We have made a good start to the year, and I believe we are well positioned for the remainder of the year with the forthcoming introduction of number portability, participation in the £12 million national cable awareness campaign … the recent launch of our residential Internet access and the enthusiastic take up of our first pay-per-view event”.

TeleWest: 01483 750900