Virgin Media is expected to show that it is reducing the number of customers leaving the company when it unveils its third quarter results later this week.

According to The Times, analysts expected Virgin to announce the loss of around 31,000 customers net in during the quarter, a significant improvement compared to the departure of 70,000 customers in the second quarter.

Acting chief executive officer Neil Berkett is expected to announce on Wednesday that Virgin Media will return to net customer growth during the second half of the year. Last month, Berkett said that the cable operator will concentrate on pushing its broadband services instead of trying to directly compete with Sky's television offering.