Telewest shares jump on positive announcement

Shares in Britain's second largest cable operator, Telewest, surged 10% on Tuesday when the company's managing director Charles Burdick told the press that the company could break even as early as the fourth quarter of this year.

Telewest, which has based its strategy in a large part on solid growth in take-up of its blueyonder broadband internet service, is set to emerge from a massive debt-for-equity restructuring during the second quarter. If that does take place, it is not unfeasible that continued strong operational performance could see the company turn cash-flow positive before the end of the year.

Burdick said: "Our plans show the second quarter of 2004 as cash-flow positive but I have the team focused on internal targets that move that up to the fourth quarter of 2003. If Telewest meets that target, it will be the first cable company in the world to turn cash-flow positive."

The company is currently relying on a series of banking facilities to keep its day-to-day operations ticking over both during and after restructuring.

Speculation is also mounting that the long-awaited marriage of ntl and Telewest may take place in 2004, with Burdick remarking that of the two, Telewest's position would be the stronger despite having a smaller franchise in terms of the number of homes passed.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal Europe today, Burdick indicated that the focus of Telewest in the upcoming quarters would be to arrest the decline in its subscriber figures and continue to push growth of its broadband services: "We've stood still for about six quarters but its not irreparable damage," he commented.