Telewest has cut its loss by 37% after a year in which 1,450 jobs at the company were cut. Turnover rose by 2% to £1.35bn from £1.32bn in 2001 and earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation rose by 19% to £379m.
Including exceptional charges, the loss for the year was £2.2bn, compared with £1.9bn last year, after Telewest wrote off £1.49bn on the value of its cable and content divisions.
Charles Burdick, managing director of Telewest, said: "We continue our focused strategy designed to accelerate cash generation, future profitability and provide a platform for growth. These results demonstrate the progress we have made."
Telewest's broadband push has seen revenues rise by 6% in the consumer division to £910m, with average revenue per user up by 4% to £41.80 for the year. The company said that there was a three-fold increase in the number of customers subscribing to Telewest broadband, television and telephone.
Revenues for the content division, including UKTV, the joint venture with BBC, fell by £22m, partly due to the closure of ITV Digital, which hit subscriptions. UKTV's stations including UK Gold, UK Drama, UK History, UK Horizons, UK Style and UK Food.
"Our efforts are now focused on sustaining our leadership in broadband, building a profitable customer-base, great customer service and controlling costs. We are building on our strengths in local access to the residential and business customer; the power of bundling multiple services; and our unique position in content through our ownership of Flextech," Burdick said.
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