TalkTalk talks up improvements

Telecoms firm TalkTalk has continued to lose broadband customers but predicted yesterday that the slump will reverse as it gets to grips with service issues stemming from its 2009 acquisition of Tiscali.

It said the number of broadband customers fell by 25,000 to 4.2 million in the first quarter of 2011 as a result of disruption from moving Tiscali customers on to TalkTalk's network and billing system. But with the change-over now largely complete, the number of customers leaving will reduce, it added, paving the way for its broadband business to return to growth in the second half of the current year.

TalkTalk, spun off from Carphone Warehouse last year, said underlying profits rose 25 per cent to 276 million in the year to March as it made a greater-than-expected 40m of cost savings, including from job losses.