Despite reporting an increase in second quarter revenues to £551.3m sterling, increased profits of £173.8m sterling and reduced net losses of £159m sterling, cable communications giant NTL has instigated a management reshuffle that will see president and CEO Barclay Knapp step down in the coming days.
A spokesperson for NTL Ireland told siliconrepublic.com that NTL reported 53,000 digital TV customers, a figure that grew by about 8,500 during the quarter, or about 1,500 more than Sky added in the three months.
Overall throughout the NTL group internationally, the company signed 115,400 additional subscribers bringing NTL’s total home subscriber base to 5.6 million. The company said that it managed to reduce churn rates to below 13pc.
Combined segment profit was £173.8m sterling for the current quarter, representing an improvement of 11pc on the previous quarter.
Average revenue per user (ARPU) increased 4pc to £41.04 sterling. ARPU growth was driven by a combination of price increases and the addition of 488,600 broadband customers during the year, 90pc of whom subscribe to two or more services provided by NTL.
Commenting on the company’s results, CEO Barclay Knapp gave specific mention to the company’s Irish operations, which he said “accelerated its progress from the first quarter, achieving excellent financial results as well as bolstering its operations in several areas ahead of plan.”
Knapp said he was passing the reigns of running the company over to incoming CEO Simon Duffy and that he would step down formally on 15 August, although he will continue to advise the company on strategy until the end of the year.
NTL Ireland’s managing director Graham Sutherland, commented: “NTL Ireland has reinforced the significant improvement in financial performance achieved in Q1 2003 with another strong set of quarterly results. Revenue growth remains encouraging and effective cost control has lifted segment profit to £5.6m sterling, a year-on-year increase of £1.4m sterling (33pc). Operating cash flows for Q2 2003 have improved year on year by £3.6m sterling. We will continue to focus on sustaining the progress made in 2003 and on strengthening the product and service offered to both our residential and business customers.”
By John Kennedy
