TalkTalk's annual loss narrows
TalkTalk's annual loss shrank to £5m from £100m as the telecoms company increased earnings and reduced reorganisation spending.
Fixed Line Telecommunications
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FTSE 250
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TalkTalk Telecom Group
96.90p
16:34 11/03/21
The pre-tax loss for the year to the end of March narrowed as so-called headline earnings rose 16.7% to £237m. The earnings increase was fuelled by more customers, increased fibre penetration and cost cuts.
The company declared a final dividend of 1.5p a share, taking the annual payout to 2.5p a share - down from 4p a year earlier.
The FTSE 250 company is trying to revive its fortunes by investing in its own full fibre network instead of using BT's capacity. It has also cut prices in a battle for customers with Vodafone. The price cuts resulted in a profit warning in February but the company has stuck to its strategy.
The company has also gone through a major internal revamp, moving its head office from London to Salford in Greater Manchester and spending on IT improvements. Reorganisation spending fell to £42m from £115m and cost of sales declined to £770m from £812m.
Tristia Harrison, TalkTalk's chief executive, said: "Today's results show that, two years after resetting TalkTalk, the fundamentals of the business are much stronger. We have grown our customer base in a disciplined way, accelerated fibre take-up, and reduced costs."
Harrison said the board was confident about increasing earnings in the current financial year in line with expectations, helped by further cost reductions.
The company's shares fell 1% to 113.9p at 0927 BST.