Virgin Media Narrows Loss

LONDON, November 7: Virgin Media has recorded a
third-quarter loss of £61 million, 36 percent down from last year’s loss of
£96.1 million, thanks to a net 13,000 gain in cable customers, as compared with
the 70,300 customers lost in the second quarter.

Virgin Media’s revenues were down slightly to £1 billion.
Cable revenues fell 5 percent from Q3 2006 to £767.7 million. Mobile revenues
were up 13 percent to £158.7 million and content revenues were flat at £79.8
million.

The platform reported a gain of 172,900 in total revenue
generating units, versus the 40,300 lost in the previous quarter. Of this,
122,900 were broadband additions, 13,700 were telephony customers, 20,400 were
for the TV service and 15,900 were mobile subscribers. Virgin Media’s
triple-play penetration rose to 47 percent from 38.7 percent a year ago.

“Our third quarter results show a significant turnaround in
customer and RGU growth with our best customer, broadband and telephony growth
since the cable merger in March 2006,” said Neil Berkett, the company’s acting
CEO. “With the cable merger integration expected to be complete by year end, we
can focus on continuing to improve the fundamentals, enhancing our products,
reducing our churn, and delivering on our competitive strengths.”

—By Mansha Daswani