The number of employees at the cable company will fall from approximately 10,500 to 9,000. Up to two thirds of redundancies could be compulsory. Telewest is also merging its consumer and business divisions as part of the restructuring programme.
Commenting on the announcement of the company’s first quarter results, Telewest’s chief executive Adam singer said: I am announcing measures designed to create an even leaner Telewest, and bring forward a break-even cash position. Regrettably, this will result in significant job losses.
Turnover for the three months ended March 2002 was up $4% to £334 million compared with Q1 2001. Pre-tax losses for the quarter were at £166 million, down 21% on the same quarter for the previous year. Debt stood at £5 billion.
Telewest now has 148,000 broadband customers, while its average monthly revenue per household is £41.97.
