Alternative British broadband provider TalkTalk has reported its sixth consecutive quarter of year-on-year revenue growth, generating a total turnover of GBP434 million (USD730 million) in the first quarter of its current fiscal year, up from the GBP421 million recorded in the year earlier period. On-net revenue also continued to rise, standing at GBP322 million in the three months ended 30 June 2014, and representing a 5.2% increased against 1Q13/14. Corporate turnover in the quarter under review meanwhile stood at GBP88 million, compared with GBP80 million a year earlier.
Alongside revenue growth, TalkTalk also increased its customer base for a seventh consecutive quarter, with 10,000 total broadband net adds, a figure it said was ‘in line with [its] strategy of modest growth’. With the operator’s fully unbundled base increasing by 45,000 over the three-month period, it noted that its legacy partially unbundled and off-net bases continued to decline, by 22,000 and 13,000 respectively. Also of note, the company said that the number of broadband customers taking up its fibre add-on continued to increase, rising to 241,000 from 207,000 as at end-March 2014, and although it acknowledged that demand remained modest, it said it expects it to ‘grow steadily with heightened awareness of the product and growing bandwidth usage’. As at end-June 2014 TalkTalk’s total broadband subscriber base was 4.206 million, up from 4.196 million three months earlier, and 4.071 million at end-June 2013. Away from fixed broadband, both mobile voice and pay-TV accesses continued to rise, standing at 308,000 (1Q13/14: 202,000) and 1.102 million (390,000) respectively.
Commenting on the quarterly performance, TalkTalk chief executive Dido Harding said: ‘Our strategy for growth continues to deliver according to plan, and we are delighted to report another quarter of base growth and year-on-year revenue progress, including continuing strong momentum in new products such as TV, and data services in TalkTalk Business … We expect revenue growth to again build through the year and we are on track to deliver our FY15 revenue and margin guidance, and medium term financial targets.’
