It may be a public company, but UK cable franchisee TeleWest Plc is extremely reticent when it comes to disclosing details its interim figures. The company said only that competition from terrestrial television has been strong throughout the quarter as viewers succumbed to the lure of so much sports being broadcast and British Telecommunication Plc’s aggressive marketing campaign. Penetration rates for its cable television service remained static, with about 21% of the those able to take the service doing so. Residential telephony penetration climbed 26% from a pro forma 25% in second quarter 1995. The firm said total television and telephony customer levels were now at 487,100 and 558,300 respectively. Cable has now been laid past 2.2m h omes, 57% of which are in its franchise area, and it said it expects to increase its network to cover 64% by year-end. As a group, the company reported a net loss up 208% at 64.2m on revenue up 136% to 68.3m British pounds. In his statement Stephen Davidson, acting chief executive officer Alan Michels’ departure last week, said losses were in line with expectations and stated that the company was on course to get its operating cash-flow into the black during this year.
