Telewest picks up 'record' broadband quarter
- Added:
- Jul 30, 2004
The Woking-based company said operating income for the three months ended June 30, 2004 was £20m, up £17m from £3m for the same period in 2003, while £39m earned over six months was up £34m from £5m recorded last year, as a result of increased revenues and lower operating costs, according to Telewest
Telewest said it increased its broadband members with 72,000 net additions compared to 51,000 in the first quarter of 2004, with growth attributed to a successful launch of its lower tier 256Kb service in March. The company currently boasts 538,000 broadband internet subscribers.
The company added that it also increased the connection speeds of its top three broadband tiers at no additional cost, with its standard broadband service increasing from 512Kb to 750Kb, while the 1Mb and 2Mb services increased to speeds of 1.5Mb and 3Mb respectively.
However, Telewest said it made a net loss of £126m against a profit of £5m in the same period last year, as a result of foreign exchange losses of £37m on its dollar-denominated debt in the second quarter - compared to gains of £117m last year - due to the increasing value of the US dollar against sterling during that time.
Telewest added that its dollar-denominated debt was cleared during its recent financial restructuring. The company completed a £3.5bn restructuring and listing on the Nasdaq in the US earlier in the month, with Telewest Communications Plc being replaced by Telewest UK, a subsidiary of the new US holding company, Telewest Global Inc.
Chairman of Telewest Global, Cob Stenham said: "This is the last set of results for Telewest Communications plc, the predecessor company of Telewest Global, Inc. prior to the completion of its financial restructuring on July 15, 2004. They show continued good operating performance with growth in customers and revenue generating units. In particular, we achieved record growth in broadband services and increased the proportion of our "triple play" customers to 22%."
May 13 2004:
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