UPC revenue hits €279m

UPC IRELAND — the company which owns the Chorus/NTL digital television, internet broadband and telephone services provider — has reported a 7.9% increase in revenue for 2008, to $355.8 million (€279.4m).

Revenue for the fourth quarter of the year actually fell by 2.7% to $80.7m. Operating profits were up by just under e40m at e143m.

In terms of subscriber numbers — UPC’s overall Irish subscriber base fell to 667,000 at the end of 2008, down from 675,900 from the end of 2007. Its telephony customer base, however, rose from 10,400 to 27,800, while its broadband clientele went from 80,500 to 101,900. The company’s overall digital television subscriber numbers, in Ireland, reached 320,300 at the end of last year.

“Our Irish operation has performed well in a very challenging quarter and 12-month period. Overall customers are selecting more bundled homepackages to combine a number of services such as high- speed broadband, phone and digital TV from UPC. This is reflected in the positive growth level of our subscriber figures,” said Robert Dunn, chief executive of UPC Ireland.

Mr Dunn also said that it was “critical to our continued economic and social prosperity” that the Government continues to invest in Ireland’s telecommunications sector, which “in turn will sustain our competitiveness in the marketplace and from a global perspective”.

Meanwhile, Liberty Global — the US-based media group which ultimately owns UPC — saw revenue growth of 17% in 2008, to $10.6bn and total new customer wins of 2.4 million people. However, the company also reported a net loss for the year of $789m, compared to a loss of $423m for the previous year.