Telecoms company Cable & Wireless has reported better-than-expected third-quarter revenues and cash balances and reaffirmed its second-half profit guidance to lift its shares 6.4 per cent.
C&W said overall revenue from continuing businesses for the third quarter to December 31st fell 4 per cent to £808 million sterling from £839 million a year earlier.
This came in ahead of expectations, with analysts on average expecting revenue of £797 million. Forecasts ranged between £790 million and £807 million.
Shares in the company, Britain's number two corporate telecoms provider after BT Group, were the top gainer among the London market's blue-chips in morning trade.
C&W said it expected its second-half group profit before tax and exceptional items to be a "reasonable reflection of that achieved in the first half".
C&W, which is coping with declining revenues amid intense price pressures in its core UK market and rising competition in the Caribbean, posted pretax profit before exceptional items of £199 million in the first half to September 30th.
The 133-year-old company has endured a painful couple of years, cutting jobs and exiting markets as it struggles to boost profitability at its remaining businesses.
It announced plans to cut 600 UK and European jobs last November, on top of some 1,500 jobs cut since June 2003.