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As it works its way out of bankruptcy court, UK-based cable company NTL reported a jump in second quarter earnings as subscriber levels fell.
The firm, which employs 423 in Ireland, said that second quarter earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) hit STG174 million, compared to STG110 million in the same quarter in 2001. On a sequential basis, EBITDA fell from STG177 million in the first quarter of the year, and EBITDA margin at 28 percent was unchanged on the same basis. NTL's total revenue came to STG627 million in the quarter, slightly lower than last year's STG634 million figure.
Earlier this year the company declared bankruptcy and subsequently announced a financial restructuring that will hand over most of NTL's shares to creditors. That deal with banks and bondholders will swap stock for USD10.9 billion worth of debt, a plan which set a record for corporate bond default.
NTL that said it expects court confirmation for its reorganisation by 05 September, shortly thereafter it will emerge from its restructuring process. The company also once again warned investors that it may not be able to complete its refinancing quickly enough to keep its operations going. But Chief Executive Officer Barclay Knapp said he was confident it would complete the scheme by about the end of the third quarter. "We are looking forward to emerging from the process on time," he said.
In the UK the company lost 70,000 subscribers in the second quarter, with just under 2.7 million signed up to TV, phone or Internet services at the end of June. This figure was countered by a climb in NTL's average revenue per user, which rose to STG40.54 per month, up from STG40.07 last quarter.
In the second quarter of 2002, NTL Ireland reported STG15 million in revenues, compared to STG14 million in the first quarter of the year and STG10 million a year earlier. EBIDTA for the Irish operation, previously called Cablelink, was STG4 million in Q2 2002, up by STG1 million sequentially and by STG3 million year-on-year.
Highlighting the last quarter, NTL Ireland said its digital television penetration hit 22,000 Irish customers at the end of Q2 and reached 28,000 by the second week in August. Around 370,000 Irish households subscribe to NTL's basic cable package. The firm's Irish cable modem broadband product has now been launched into a target area of 7,000 households with around 6 percent, or 420, taking up the service, NTL said.
Liam Duggan, who has filled the post of former Managing Director Brian Moore to become Acting Managing Director of NTL Ireland, described the results as strong. "Our focus for the remainder of 2002 will be on developing our digital TV product and improving our customer service," he said in a brief statement.
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