Cable company NTL has reduced its underlying operating loss in the second quarter as it added 47,800 subscribers to its network.
The British TV, Internet and telephone service provider saw revenue fall 2.3 per cent to £482.5 million after the company's business division suffered from several discontinued contracts.
Its loss from continuing operations narrowed to £66.1 million for the second quarter of 2005, compared with £267 million a year earlier.
The company said that a new stringent customer credit screening policy could result in lower subscriber numbers in the near term, with full-year subscriber additions potentially falling 30,000 short of its 200,000 target.
The number of NTL customers subscribing to TV, Internet and phone service rose 17 per cent in the second quarter. More than 25 per cent of the NTL's network now subscribes to the so-called "triple play," which cable companies are hoping will give them an edge over their satellite and telecom rivals.
The company said that churn, or the percentage of customers who leave the service each month, was constant at 1.4 per cent.
NTL Ireland was sold earlier this year in a €325 million deal to Morgan Stanley, which bought the company on behalf of UGC. The merger is subject to a review by the Competition Authority, as UGC already owns rival cable company Chorus.
If the deal is approved, Morgan Stanley will then sell the company to UGC.