Thursday, Virgin Media Inc. (VMED,VMED.L), a New York-based entertainment and communications company with operations in the UK, reported a wider net loss for the third quarter, hurt by an unfavorable foreign exchange movement, despite lower expenses. Top line edged down in the quarter, reflecting lower Mobile and Business revenue, partially offset by increase in Consumer and Content revenue.
The company's third-quarter net loss was GBP 120.8 million or GBP 0.37 per share, wider than a loss of GBP 61 million or GBP 0.19 per share in the year-ago quarter.
The company attributed the wider loss mainly to an unfavorable foreign exchange movement on the value of $1 billion Convertible Senior Notes for which the principal is unhedged. Virgin Media recorded foreign currency losses of GBP 104.7 million in the quarter, compared to gains of GBP 2.2 million a year ago.
Revenue for the quarter declined to GBP 991.1 million from GBP 1.01 billion in the prior-year quarter, as a growth in Consumer and Content revenue were offset by lower Mobile and Business revenue.
In the preceding quarter, Virgin Media had recorded net loss of GBP 447.2 million or GBP 1.36 loss per share on revenues of GBP 990.5 million.
Among peers, British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc (BSY,BSYD.L,BSY.L) on October 31 reported a 13% decline in first-quarter net profit to GBP 73 million from GBP 84 million, hurt by one-time charges and higher tax. However, on an adjusted basis, earnings climbed 22%, while pre-tax profit grew 6.6% from last year, driven by strong customer growth.
On the same day, communications solutions provider BT Group plc (BT, BT-A.L) said it expects second-quarter EBITDA and earnings per share, excluding specific items and leaver costs, to be slightly below its expectations.
Segment-wise, Virgin Media's Cable revenues dropped to GBP 763.7 million from GBP 767.7 million a year ago. In Cable, consumer revenue edged up to GBP 610.3 million from last year's GBP 607.7 million. Meanwhile, Business revenues fell to GBP 153.4 million from GBP 160 million last year, primarily due to lower retail voice, wholesale and other retail revenue, partially offset by growth in retail data revenue.
In the quarter, Mobile revenues declined to GBP 145.5 million from GBP 158.7 million in the same period last year, while Content revenues increased to GBP 81.9 million from GBP 79.8 million a year ago.
The company's operating income before depreciation, amortization, goodwill impairment and restructuring and other charges, or OCF, dropped to GBP 325 million from prior year's GBP 341.5 million.
Meanwhile, quarterly operating income grew to GBP 48.6 million from GBP 46.7 million in the last year, reflecting lower costs and expenses to GBP 942.5 million. Gains on derivative instruments were GBP 48 million, significantly higher than GBP 0.8 million in the prior year.
In the quarter, total revenue generating units, or RGU, net additions was 185,200, compared to 186,700 last year. Broadband net additions during the quarter were 68,700, down from 115,800 a year ago, due to lower gross additions. Churn in the quarter dropped to 1.5% from 1.7% a year ago. TV subscribers net additions grew to 37,800 from 20,400 in the previous year.
Commenting on the results, Neil Berkett, chief executive officer of Virgin Media, said, "These third quarter results represent another solid operational and financial performance as we continue to execute against our strategy. In the face of a slowdown in the general economy, our business has shown good resilience and we are focused on keeping churn low, improving our operational execution and driving unnecessary costs and inefficiencies out of the business."
In the quarter, average monthly churn was reduced to 1.5% from 1.7% a year earlier.
For the nine-months of fiscal 2008, Virgin Media's net loss widened to GBP 672.4 million or GBP 2.05 per share from loss of GBP 300.3 million or GBP 0.92 per share in the previous year. Revenue for the period was GBP 2.98 billion, lower than GBP 3.02 billion recorded in the previous year.
Looking ahead, the company noted that its fourth quarter will mark a major milestone with the launch of its unrivaled 50Mb broadband service.
In a separate statement, Virgin Media announced the approval of proposed amendments to its senior facilities agreement by over 90% of its senior lenders. In addition, lenders who represent over 70% of the A tranches and over 80% of the B tranches have individually agreed to move into new tranches with modified payment terms. Virgin Media said it expects that the amendments will be signed and become effective shortly.
VMED closed Wednesday's regular trading session at $6.24, down $1.33, on a volume of 4.8 million shares. In the past 52 weeks, shares have been trading in a broad range of $3.66 -$21.87.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.