Telecoms and internet group TalkTalk has revealed it swung into the red with annual pre-tax losses of £73 million against profits of £70 million the previous year after being forced to absorb the £119 million costs of a turnaround plan. The provider saw underlying earnings fall to £233 million in the year to March 31, down from £361 million the previous year, while revenues fell 4% to £1.7 billion. But the company claimed to have achieved its highest ever quarterly net growth in new customers in the final three months - up 109,000. Tristia Harrison, chief executive of TalkTalk, said: "When we reset TalkTalk a year ago, we said we would focus on delivering sustained customer growth whilst radically simplifying the business. "One year into the strategy, we are making good progress on both." She added: "As expected, our decision to invest in growth has come with short-term implications for EBITDA (underlying earnings), but positions us well for full-year 2019." Reports yesterday trailed that the company was set to sell a slice of its business to Daisy Group in a £175m deal. The transaction means Daisy, a privately owned telecoms company, will acquire 80,000 business customers. The transaction is part of the company’s plan to simplify its operations, as it tries to get a foothold in the market. Shares fell in February as the company reduced its dividend for the second time in a year, downgrading expectations for profits to £235m from £280m as the firm has been forced to cut prices to compete with rivals BT, Sky and Virgin Media Meanwhile Charles Bligh has been named as the head of a new full fibre joint venture formed by TalkTalk and Infracapital, with BT veteran Paul Reynolds to become its chairman, with a formal announcement expected to coincide with the publication of results. Bligh is TalkTalk’s chief operating officer and has been one of its top executives since he joined in 2011, having spent 22 years with IBM. He will move over to run the newly formed infrastructure company that has pledged to connect 3m homes to full fibre broadband. Infracapital, the investment arm of Prudential, signed terms with TalkTalk earlier this year on the £1.5bn project. Mr Reynolds ran BT’s Wholesale business between 2000 and 2007.
TalkTalk has fallen into the red after absorbing the £119m ($158m) cost of a turnaround plan. In the year to 31 March, the company reported pre-tax losses of £73m, compared with a profit of £70m the previous year, despite posting its biggest-ever quarterly net growth in new customers, up 109,000 in the final quarter. TalkTalk also announced the appointment of Charles Bligh as head of a full fibre joint venture with Infracapital, alongside Paul Reynolds, formerly of BT, as its chairman.