Virgin Media Q2 results 'better than expected'
Virgin Media has released it second quarter results today, with an estimated 40,000 customers losses put down to Sky's removal of its basic channels.
The company said the results were "better than expected" despite the disruption caused by its ongoing carriage dispute with the satellite broadcaster, which resulted in the removal of its basic channels from the cable platform on March 1.
The cable company's net customers fell 70,300 in the second quarter to 4.7 million, with just 2,200 net additions made to its television service. Losses were also affected by the loss of fixed line telephony subscribers.
Total group revenue fell to £995 million from £1.021 million in the first quarter. Virgin Media's consumer revenue dropped in the second quarter to £619.3 million, down from £637.3 million in the first quarter. The consumer revenue decline primarily reflected the net customer loss and a decrease in average revenue per customer.
Customers churn in the second quarter was up to 1.8%, from 1.6% in the previous quarter. Total gross disconnections of 262,200, were up 31,000 compared to Q1, which Virgin says is due mainly to the removal Sky's basic channels. Virgin Media said it expects the churn impact from this issue to be contained within the second quarter, and without it, churn would have been flat at 1.6%.
The number of households taking Virgin Media's DVR service V+, rose by 53,000 to 167,000, and triple play (phone, TV and broadband) penetration was up to 45.2% from 37.1% a year ago.
The company's broadband customers increased by 51,000 to reach 3.5 million, with Virgin Mobile contract customers increasing by 53,000 to 299,000.
Steve Burch, chief executive officer of Virgin Media, said: "The second quarter results show encouraging broadband and mobile contract growth, a resilient performance by our TV business and signs that our fixed line telephony business is starting to react to renewed management focus."
Virgin Media's video-on-demand added new fans with 44% of its customers using the service on a monthly basis compared to 36% at the start of the year. Average views per user per month were 13.7 compared to 9.6 at the start of the year.
Virgin Media has completed a number of platform and content deals in the past few months. It has signed with Setanta to include six Setanta Sports channels in its basic XL package, and is working with the sports broadcaster to launch a new sports news channel.
The company is also working with the BBC to be the first TV platform to launch its iPlayer service later this year. Virgin Media is also to launch its entertainment channel Virgin 1 in the autumn. The channel will replace Ftn on Freeview, as well as being available on cable and satellite.
"The new partnership with Setanta, the planned launch of sports and entertainment channels and our growing VOD platform makes us the superior pay TV offering in the country. Along with our enhanced broadband portal, we have significantly improved our content offering; while improved product bundling and further merger benefits mean the cash outlook for the rest of the year and beyond remains strong, " Birch added.
Regards Satdude. :thum:
Virgin Media has released it second quarter results today, with an estimated 40,000 customers losses put down to Sky's removal of its basic channels.
The company said the results were "better than expected" despite the disruption caused by its ongoing carriage dispute with the satellite broadcaster, which resulted in the removal of its basic channels from the cable platform on March 1.
The cable company's net customers fell 70,300 in the second quarter to 4.7 million, with just 2,200 net additions made to its television service. Losses were also affected by the loss of fixed line telephony subscribers.
Total group revenue fell to £995 million from £1.021 million in the first quarter. Virgin Media's consumer revenue dropped in the second quarter to £619.3 million, down from £637.3 million in the first quarter. The consumer revenue decline primarily reflected the net customer loss and a decrease in average revenue per customer.
Customers churn in the second quarter was up to 1.8%, from 1.6% in the previous quarter. Total gross disconnections of 262,200, were up 31,000 compared to Q1, which Virgin says is due mainly to the removal Sky's basic channels. Virgin Media said it expects the churn impact from this issue to be contained within the second quarter, and without it, churn would have been flat at 1.6%.
The number of households taking Virgin Media's DVR service V+, rose by 53,000 to 167,000, and triple play (phone, TV and broadband) penetration was up to 45.2% from 37.1% a year ago.
The company's broadband customers increased by 51,000 to reach 3.5 million, with Virgin Mobile contract customers increasing by 53,000 to 299,000.
Steve Burch, chief executive officer of Virgin Media, said: "The second quarter results show encouraging broadband and mobile contract growth, a resilient performance by our TV business and signs that our fixed line telephony business is starting to react to renewed management focus."
Virgin Media's video-on-demand added new fans with 44% of its customers using the service on a monthly basis compared to 36% at the start of the year. Average views per user per month were 13.7 compared to 9.6 at the start of the year.
Virgin Media has completed a number of platform and content deals in the past few months. It has signed with Setanta to include six Setanta Sports channels in its basic XL package, and is working with the sports broadcaster to launch a new sports news channel.
The company is also working with the BBC to be the first TV platform to launch its iPlayer service later this year. Virgin Media is also to launch its entertainment channel Virgin 1 in the autumn. The channel will replace Ftn on Freeview, as well as being available on cable and satellite.
"The new partnership with Setanta, the planned launch of sports and entertainment channels and our growing VOD platform makes us the superior pay TV offering in the country. Along with our enhanced broadband portal, we have significantly improved our content offering; while improved product bundling and further merger benefits mean the cash outlook for the rest of the year and beyond remains strong, " Birch added.
Regards Satdude. :thum: