Rise in subscribers for Virgin Media as parent’s revenue jumps

Virgin Media Ireland recorded a rise in subscribers in the first quarter as revenue jumped by more than a quarter for its parent Liberty Global.

The company, which supplies broadband, TV and phone services, had 437,800 customers at the end of March, up from 435,900 for the same period a year earlier.

Broadband subscribers increased to 387,600 from 380,500 year on year while TV subscribers climbed from 289,300 to 318,700. The company said the number of mobile subscribers it now has is 122,400, up from 98,000 a year ago.

However, the company reported a decline in home phone customers, which slipped from 325,500 to 294,900.

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Overall, its services were available to 948,000 homes around the State, compared with 938,600 in the first quarter of 2020.

Over the last year, Virgin Media launched a new 1GB broadband service and rolled out its next-generation TV platform, 360.

The company earlier this month released figures that showed use of its broadband services surpassed 200 million gigabytes in March, a 70 per cent rise compared with the same month in 2020.

Liberty Global

Virgin’s parent Liberty Global meanwhile recorded first-quarter revenue $3.62 billion (€3 billion) compared with the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. This marked a 25.7 per cent year-on-year rise compared with the first quarter of 2020.

Net earnings rose 41.5 per cent to $1.44 billion (€1.19 billion) with adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) up 18.9 per cent to $1.367 billion.

"We're encouraged by the operational progress made during the first quarter of 2021, allowing us to carry forward the momentum we built last year," said chief executive Mike Fries.

The competition watchdog in Britain last month provisionally cleared the £31 billion (€36 billion) merger between Virgin Media and O2.