TalkTalk broadband sales: “On Target”

The company had to go through a sharp slowdown in its business broadband where the growth was only 20 per cent in its third quarter. But the kind of growth it got in December was awesome. In United Kingdom’s broadband market the company may very well be the one amongst others few with large range of subscribers and hopes to hear a lot from the market in coming months with the expectations already set to target alteast ‘remains good’. With the retail sales from 13 to 30 December rose dramatically up by 19.8 percent to GBP 571.3 million, a good move as an increase of 7.3 percent on a like-for-like basis. Total connections were increased to 3.26 million, a 19.2 per cent upward increase since last year. In the United Kingdom itself, subscriptions grew up 18.5 per cent with the prepaid sales rising up 18.6 per cent to GBP 2.08 million. 149 stores were opened by the company in a quarter jumping up to a total 2,070. There is news that the company collaborated and has started its business in the Unites States as well with the giants like Best Buy Mobile with a great response so far as expected. The group has achieved what they had tracked for Xmas and the analysis of a full-year profit forecasts, was true and was a little bullish about the prospects for next year ahead, claiming that the market has continued to favor its “impartial model and brand strength”. Talk Talk now has some 2.2 million residential broadband customers, of which 540,000 have joined since it introduced its free package for Talk Talk customers last summer. Last year, the company acquired AOL’s UK broadband and phone businesses, increasing its subscriber base by more than 1 million. “The completion of the AOL deal makes us the clear number three player in the UK broadband market with 2.2 million residential broadband customers, giving us the scale we need to deliver significant profitable growth in the medium term,” said Charles Dunstone, the company’s chief executive. “Our immediate focus continues to be on improving our processes and customer service.” The Carphone Warehouse group said it was also making good progress in getting its phone customers on to its own unbundled lines. The unbundling process sees the firm put its own equipment into BT exchanges, and allows the company to continue increasing its profitability. By the end of 2006, it had unbundled 569 exchanges, and is unbundling others at a rate of about 100 a month. Roger Taylor, the finance director, brushed aside concerns about the slowdown in broadband subscriber growth, saying the focus was to get more customers on to unbundled lines. Analysts at Credit Suisse said the results were good, but that there was an element of concern over the slowdown in broadband subscriptions. Outside the UK, the group saw strong performance in its new French joint venture with Virgin Mobile, reaching almost 380,000 customers in just nine months. Mr Dunstone said the company’s US joint venture with Best Buy had also made a “promising start”. Shares in Carphone Warehouse, which owns TalkTalk broadband provider, closed up 1.75p at 324.5p, giving the company a market value of £2.9bn.