TalkTalk Signs New Deal With Vodafone As Revenue Rises

30th Jul 2010 07:09

By Lilly Vitorovich Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (Dow Jones)--TalkTalk Telecom Group PLC (TALK.LN) said Friday that it has secured a new deal with Vodafone Group PLC's (VOD.LN) U.K. wholesale business that will enable its customers to get mobile voice and broadband services, alongside their home phone and broadband as it reported a 31% increase in first-quarter revenue and reaffirmed its full-year guidance. TalkTalk, Britain's biggest broadband provider with 4.2 million broadband customers, will add contract mobile voice tariffs and mobile broadband to its range of services for its existing and new landline and broadband customers from this autumn. Revenue rose 31% to GBP444 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2011 from GBP340 million a year earlier after adding 34,000 net new broadband customers, taking TalkTalk's total broadband customer base to 4.2 million at the end of the quarter. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010, TalkTalk added 42,00 net broadband customers. "This reflected the slightly slower quarter-on-quarter customer growth typically seen in our business in the first half of the year," TalkTalk said. Broadband average revenue per user rose slightly to GBP23.90 in the first quarter from GBP23.30 a year ago. TalkTalk expects revenue to rise around 6% to 8% in fiscal 2011 and confirmed that it would add between 140,000 and 180,000 net broadband customers in the year. In May, it also flagged an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization margin of 14.5% to 15.5% in fiscal 2011 as it extracts further synergies from the integration of Tiscali. TalkTalk has delivered a "very solid performance" as it continued to integrate Tiscali into its operations, Chairman Charles Dunstone said. TalkTalk split from mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse Group PLC at the end of March, 21 years after Charles Dunstone founded the company. Carphone Warehouse continues to run its TalkMobile mobile virtual network operation with Vodafone. TalkTalk shares closed at 123 pence Thursday, valuing the company at GBP1.13 billion. -By Lilly Vitorovich, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-0-207 842 9290; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 30, 2010 02:09 ET (06:09 GMT)