Revenue for the company has fallen by over 5% in the first quarter and operating losses for the period have risen to £15.3million.
And despite spending around £25million on the rebrand, it seems to have had little effect on Virgin Media’s customer base, losing almost 47,000 customers in the past three months. Much of this loss can be attributed to the highly publicised dispute with Sky regarding access to core Sky channels.
Broadband Genie CEO Philip Wilkinson says: “Virgin Media hasn’t got off to a great start this year which is a shame as its bundled packages offer good value to customers not afraid to put all their eggs in one basket. The spat with Sky unfortunately hasn’t done Virgin any favours and Sky’s aggressive targeting of Virgin customers has taken its toll on the cable company’s figures.
“Competition in the bundled market is on the up with rivals such as Tiscali and BT joining Sky and Virgin in offering broadband, TV and phone bundles. It will be interesting to see who triumphs in the next round of the 2007 battle of the bundles.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
1. Broadband Genie allows users to compare broadband online, and is part of Genie Group.
2. Genie Group Ltd is a leading independent provider of internet comparison shopping services in the UK, and was set up in 2004 by Philip Wilkinson (co-founder of Kelkoo UK). Genie Group’s unique selling point is 'the Genie', which makes personal recommendations to internet shoppers based on ground-breaking, intelligent technology. This gives Genie Group the ability to provide an enjoyable and satisfying internet shopping experience, and deliver an unmatched quality of sales leads to our affiliate merchants. Genie Group launched its flagship broadband comparison service Broadband Genie in January 2005.
3. More information can be found at http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk . Please direct all media enquiries to Stephanie Rogers. Interviews with Philip Wilkinson can be arranged on request.
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