TalkTalk loses TV customers but grows RGUs overall

Dido Harding

UK telco TalkTalk lost 14,000 TV customers in the fourth fiscal quarter, despite bouncing back in overall revenue-generating unit additions from the cyber attack on it and data leak last October.

The company added 148,000 RGUs in the quarter to March, with 90,000 new mobile customers and 72,000 new fibre customers added in the quarter. On-net customer additions were flat over the quarter, but TalkTalk reported its lowest ever quarterly churn at 1.3%.

Revenues amounted to £1.838 billion up 2.4% on last year, with on-net revenue rising by 5% and ARPU rising by 5.8%.

“The business bounced back strongly in the final quarter following the cyber attack in October.  We recorded our lowest ever churn and stabilised the broadband base, testimony to the speed with which customer sentiment towards TalkTalk has recovered, the success of our greater focus on existing customers, and the growing benefits of our simplification programme.  We reported full year results in line with our guidance and have declared a 15% higher dividend for the year,” said CEO Dido Harding.

“TalkTalk is well positioned to build upon our already strong credentials as the UK’s leading value for money quad-play and B2B operator.  There has never been a clearer space for a trusted value champion and our learnings from and experience since the cyber attack have helped to focus our plans for the year ahead.  We see strong opportunities for growth across all our products, both for consumers and for businesses, against the backdrop of an increasingly supportive regulatory environment.  As a result we are reiterating our financial guidance for FY17 of £320m-£360m EBITDA.”