Telewest recovery on track

Debt-laden UK cable company Telewest today announced further progress in its recovery with a six-fold increase in half-yearly operating income to £39m (€58.8m).

The Woking-based group said higher revenues and lower costs were behind the rise in the six months to June 30, up from £5m (€7.5m) last time. Operating income in the three months to the same date was also up to £20m (€30.1m) from £3m (€4.5m) beforehand.

However, Telewest said it made a net loss of £126m (€189.9m) against a profit of £5m (€7.5m) in the same period a year ago.

The company said the movement resulted mainly from foreign exchange losses of £37m (€55.8m) on its dollar-denominated debt in the second quarter – compared to gains of £117m (€176.3m) last time – as a result of the increasing value of the US dollar against sterling during the period.

It said, however, that all the dollar-denominated debt was cancelled under its recent financial restructuring, meaning currency movements on the cancelled borrowings would not occur in future.