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Virgin Media, which yesterday postponed the sale of the company after it emerged potential buyers would not have access to the debt needed to strike a deal immediately, said its overall net customers had fallen to 4.7m.

The group said it had 2,200 net new additions to its television service in the second-quarter, but estimated it had lost 40,000 customers in the same quarter.

The second-quarter results come amid a bitter legal wrangle between Virgin and Sky, in which Virgin has accused Sky of abusing its dominant position in the market.

The row resulted in Virgin no longer carrying several Sky channels from March, including Sky One, the home of popular first-run US programmes such as '24' and 'Lost', after the two sides failed to reach agreement on carriage fees.

Other parts of Virgin Media's business were not as downbeat as its cable TV subscription numbers, with its broadband customers increasing by 51,000 in the second quarter to 3.5m.

Virgin Mobile contract customers in the second quarter rose by 53,000 to 299,000 and the company said the outlook for its broadband service for the rest of the year remained strong.

Operating income before depreciation, amortisation and other charges rose to £315.3m, up from £305.7m for the same period last year. Second-quarter group revenue declined to £995m from £1.02bn in the previous quarter of this year.

Steve Burch, Virgin Media, chief executive, said: "The second quarter results show encouraging broadband and mobile contract growth, a resilient performance by our TV business and signs that our fixed line telephony business is starting to react to renewed management focus.

"Along with our enhanced broadband portal, we have significantly improved our content offering; while improved product bundling and further merger benefits mean the cash outlook for the rest of the year and beyond remains strong."

In a conference call Neil Berkett, chief operating officer, Virgin Media, said that the company had "absolutely weathered the storm" in terms of its battle with Sky, but conceded the loss of customers.

"Clearly, that is 40,000 customers I would have preferred not to have lost," Berkett said.