Liberty Global, owner of the merged cable group NTL and Chorus, has reported Irish subscriber numbers of more than 600,000 in the second quarter.
The group yesterday released its figures for the three months to the end of June, saying it had 600,200 subscribers in Ireland.
This compares with 592,600 at the end of the first quarter. There were 296,300 analogue TV customers and 177,900 digital subscribers, with the remainder using MMDS. Internet subscribers stood at 40,300.
Liberty Global, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, is Ireland's largest pay TV company. While it gives a regional breakdown of subscriber numbers for the quarter, it does not break out sales or profit figures for Ireland alone.
On a global basis revenue for the three-month period was up 46 per cent on the year-earlier quarter, at $1.59 billion (€1.25 billion). Liberty attributed the increase to acquisitions in Switzerland and Australia, as well as an increase in subscribers. Its net loss widened to $184 million.
Despite releasing positive results, Liberty downgraded its full-year targets to reflect unit sales in France and Sweden. However the company said it was on track to achieve or exceed its new 2006 targets, which forecast full-year revenue of $6.2 billion.
Liberty said last month it would cut as many as 350 jobs in Ireland to help it compete with rivals such as Sky. The combined Irish entity comes under the umbrella of UPC Ireland, which was formed when Liberty Global acquired NTL Ireland last year for €325 million and combined it with its existing Irish cable operation, Chorus.
