REVENUES AT UPC Ireland, the cable TV and telecoms provider that owns NTL and Chorus, grew by 7.9 per cent in 2008 to €242 million in spite of a decline in customer numbers.

Results published yesterday by Colorado-based Liberty Global, UPC’s listed parent company, show that UPC had 554,900 “customer relationships” at the end of 2008, down 37,400 year on year.

UPC ended last year with 47,700 fewer subscribers to its TV services, but recorded strong growth in broadband and phone customer numbers.

UPC had 537,300 analogue, MMDS and digital TV customers at the end of last December, compared with 585,000 a year earlier.

This means satellite operator Sky is now the biggest provider of pay TV in Ireland.

UPC’s broadband subscriber base grew to 101,900 from 80,500 over the same period, while its phone customers more than doubled last year to 27,800.

It is now the second-biggest provider of broadband here behind Eircom.

UPC Ireland chief executive Robert Dunn expressed satisfaction with the results. “I can’t say we’re happy losing customers; we’re not, but I think we’ll see that trend reversing,” Mr Dunn said.

He said UPC had increased its broadband customer base by about 8 per cent in the first eight weeks of this year and posted an 18 per cent rise in phone subscribers. UPC is spending €2 million in the first quarter of this year promoting its triple-play packages, which bundle digital TV, broadband and phone services.

Mr Dunn said UPC would begin broadcasting programmes in high definition in the second quarter of this year.

“High definition will fill a hole in the product suite where Sky has a competitive advantage over us,” he said. “I’m confident that will be to our advantage.”

While UPC’s revenues continue to grow, Mr Dunn conceded that it does not make a net profit.

UPC produced operating cash flow of €97 million in 2008, up from €76 million the previous year, according to figures provided by the company yesterday.