TeleWest Plc’s chief executive Alan Michels dismissed speculation that the UK cable company’s parent company, Tele-Communications Inc, and Nynex Corp, which owns Nynex Cablecomms Plc in the UK, were planning to merge the two. We would have heard from them if there had been any plans, Michels told Mark John of Reuters. Both Michels and finance director Stephen Davidson acknowledged that consolidation in the UK cable television industry was likely, but Davidson claimed that TeleWest was a stand-alone and had just secured banking commitments for a further #1,200m. TeleWest bought SBC Cablecomms last year for #679m, but it will not be bidding for any part of Videotron Holdings Plc, which Groupe Videotron Ltd said last month it would consider selling (CI No 2,848). Meanwhile, TeleWest reported an increase in pre- tax losses to #114.7m, from #65.2m last time, which are pro-forma figures following the SBC purchase. Residential telephony revenues grew 145% as numbers were up to 430,916 at the year-end. The average revenue per customer decreased as the SBC franchises were introduced and prices fell. Business telephony sales rose 98% as the lines rose 127% to 24,681.
