Virgin Media Remains Challenged

Virgin Media Inc. (VMED) declared mixed financial results for the third quarter 2009. Quarterly total revenue of $1,536 million was up 1.3% year-over-year. Third quarter total revenue was also better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,511 million. The company added 8,100 net users in the reported quarter and pushed its customer's average spend to a record high level. However, net loss, in the same quarter was $96.8 million or 29 cents per share compared to a net loss of $232.8 million of 72 cents per share in the prior-year quarter. Third quarter net loss of 29 cents per share was well below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss 19 cents per share.

Quarterly cost of sales was $646 million compared to $756 million in the prior-year quarter. Quarterly operating expenses were $804.6 million compared to $927.8 million in the year-ago quarter.

Consumer Segment
Overall quarterly revenue from the Consumer segment was $1,250.4 million, up 2.5% year-over-year. On-net (fiber optic cable) revenue was $1,011 million, an improvement of 5.3% over the prior-year quarter. ARPU (average revenue per user) from On-net services also increased 5.3% to $71.3 in the reported quarter. Quarterly Broadband subscriber net addition was 39,000, TV net addition was 37,000, and Telephony net addition was 16,000. Average monthly On-net churn remained stable year-on-year at 1.5%. Mobile revenue, in the third quarter, was $216 million, down 7.8% year-over-year. Mobile contract net additions in the reported quarter were 88,000. Quarterly Off-net (non-cable) revenue was $23.2 million, down 3.4% year-over-year.

Business Segment
Overall Business segment revenue, in the third quarter, was $230.9 million, down 6.6% year-over-year. The high-margin Retail data revenue was $89.3 million, up 12% year-over-year. Retail voice revenue was $71.4 million, down 6.7% year-over-year. LAN solutions revenue was $12.3 million, down 44.1% year-over-year. Wholesale revenue was $58 million, 16.3% year-over-year.

Content Segment
Quarterly revenue of this segment was $54.8 million, up 10% year-over-year.

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