British cable operator NTL said today it would rebrand itself Virgin Media following its acquisition of Virgin Mobile, as its third-quarter operating loss widened.
The cable TV, Internet and telephone service provider said its operating loss of £9.6 million sterling ($18.3 million), compared with a loss of 4.7 million a year earlier, was due to increased restructuring charges.
Total revenue rose to £1.03 billion from £482.7 million a year earlier. It recorded a net loss of 37,300 customers in the quarter. NTL said it could not precisely identify the cause of customers dropping their subscriptions, but said people moving out of its coverage area was one factor.
It warned that customer additions in the fourth quarter would be adversely affected by a change in its billing systems and by a low level of installations in the holiday season.
Cable ARPU - annualised average revenue per user - was up 27 pence at £42.48 against the second quarter.
The company said it experienced strongest growth in the number of broadband subscribers with gross additions of 265,000, an increase of 13 percent over the previous quarter. Net additions in broadband were 78,100, down from 104,900 in the second quarter.
NTL, which merged with fellow cable provider Telewest to create a large-scale rival to satellite operator BSkyB, bought Virgin Mobile for $1.7 billion earlier this year.
The company said Virgin Media would exploit its ability to offer a "quadplay" of digital TV, broadband, mobile and home phone services.
NTL said it expected to be given fresh impetus from the rebranding as it said Virgin is one of the best known and most respected brands in Britain.