(5 May 2009 11:30 pm)

MUMBAI: Television and broadband group Virgin Media has reported a fall of 13 per cent in customer acquisition.

The company Virgin added 31,000 television customers in the quarter, compared with 45,000 in the previous quarter and 37,000 at the same time a year ago. The company’s total television subscriber base now stands at 3.65 million.

The company’s churn rate is 1.1 per cent while its average revenue per user (ARPU) is £42.29.

Virgin Media CEO Neil Berkett said, “The Company has enjoyed a quarter of sound operational and financial performance. We focused not just on attracting new subscribers but on changing the nature of our subscribers so that they buy more from us and so that the average revenue per user grows.”

Meanwhile, the group added 47,000 broadband customers, compared with 88,000 at the same time last year and 57,000 in the previous quarter while total telephony customer additions skid to 12,600 as compared to 27,500 at the same time last year. The pre-paid mobile phones business is also shrinking, losing 157,000 net customers in the quarter.

Virgin Media’s revenue also witnessed a drop with the group's home-shopping business, falling to £935.7 million, from £947.3 million last year. Net loss widened to £154 million, from £104.4 million last year.