Cable company ntl Ireland posted a profit of €38 million for 2003 as it increased its number of digital TV subscribers and reduced bad debts.
Ntl's British-owned parent company of the same name revealed this morning it has sharply narrowed losses from £605 million sterling to £130 million
By the end of 2003 ntl Ireland had 344,300 residential customers. Digital television customers grew by 11,700 to 71,300 when including MMDS customers.
In addition, during the third quarter of 2003, ntl successfully renegotiated its contract with IBM for outsourced IT services, leading to a reduction in rates charged.
On a group basis, revenues rose 87 per cent to £577 million, with 58,400 net home subscriber additions in the quarter. It announced yesterday that it has signed up one million customers for broadband Internet access.
Ntl borrowed billions of dollars at the height of the 1990s telecom boom before defaulting on its loans. It emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2003 after handing control to its former bondholders in a debt-for-equity swap.