Debt-choked cable company Telewest Communications is planning to cut a further 1,000 jobs and reduce capital spending by a third as part of its restructuring, according to the Financial Times.
The report comes just after Telewest began talks with creditors on cost cuts and debt restructuring which analysts believe could pave the way for a long-awaited merger with UK rival NTL.
The UK-based company - due to seek shareholder approval today for the sale of its 17 per cent stake in SMG, the Glasgow-based media group - is accelerating cost-cutting efforts ahead of a large debt-for-equity swap, the FT says.
It is understood Telewest has exchanged "term sheets" with bondholders owed 3.6 billion pounds, outlining initial debt restructuring proposals, the FT reported.
Commenting on the FT report, a Telewest spokeswoman said: "We currently have no plans for any more job cuts other than those we've talked about."
Earlier this year, Telewest announced 1,500 job cuts aimed at reducing annual expenditure from 600 million pounds to 450 million pounds.
According to the FT, the 1,000 extra job cuts are likely to go by the end of next year, reducing the work force to about 8,000, and capital expenditure will fall to about 300 million, the newspaper said.
Among other measures, a third of Telewest's top 60 managers have been offered redundancy terms, while the number of customer service centres - handling its 1.3m subscribers - is likely to fall from eight to five, the newspaper reported.