TalkTalk’s shares up 7% on back of rising sales
TELECOMS group TalkTalk has posted rising first quarter sales and said it expects to bag 150,000 new customers this year as its turnaround continues.
The firm booked a 4.1% increase in first quarter revenue to £382 million, helped by strong growth in its broadband customer base, which saw 80,000 net additions, taking the total to 4.2m.
While it represents a slowdown from the 109,000 it added in the previous quarter, the figure is much higher than the 20,000 recorded in the same quarter last year.
Sales in the period consisted of £309m in consumer, wholesale and B2B broadband income, which was up 3.7% year-on-year.
The rate of customers moving to another provider was 1.28%.
The company said it is on track to deliver at least 150,000 net adds this financial year, adding that it expects to meet full year guidance of 15% earnings growth.
Shares were up over 7% following the update.
Chief executive Tristia Harrison said: “After resetting the business last year, we are now a much simpler, lower-cost business.”
The group has been undergoing a restructure following a major cyber attack in 2015, which saw the personal data of nearly 160,000 people accessed by hackers.
Last year TalkTalk dived into the red with annual losses of £73m after counting the cost of its overhaul.
The firm said £119m of costs from its turnaround plan and restructure left it nursing the loss, which compared with profits of £70m the previous year.
But yesterday Ms Harrison struck an upbeat tone: “As our strategy to be the UK’s leading value provider of fixed connectivity continues to deliver, we are on course to report headline revenue growth, stable average revenue per user and a 15% year-on-year increase in headline EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization).
“Alongside the core business we continue to make good progress on our plans for full fibre (FTTP).”