Virgin posts increase in profits and sales amid 900 jobs chop

Telco Virgin Media posted revenue growth of four per cent to £4.6bn for its full-year results in 2015. That was on a healthy increase of operating income up £104m from £274m in 2014. Tom Mockridge, Virgin Media CEO, said the company has "improved cost control" since becoming part of Liberty Global in 2013. The biz clearly has …

[Terry 6]

Mobile

We've been on VM for internet and TV. Happily for years. I get the full 200mb and so on.

BUT, we dumped Virgin Mobile a while back, one contract at a time.

Because they were just too expensive for the equivalent and better product we found elsewhere.

And their "customer loyalty" consideration went out of the window.

Instead of, as once, long standing customers being able to negotiate an extra discount to stay with them, they started using a fixed, inflexible "the computer says" figure for any renewal, that basically made the deal still more expensive than the competition.

[Phil W]

Re: Mobile

All major networks (and large MVNOs) are like that now.

I used to be with T-Mobile and now EE, but intend to leave once my contract is up.

In the good old days a few weeks before I was due an upgrade I'd go into Carphone warehouse, pick the phone and tariff I wanted only for the CPW staff to say, the computer says your upgrade credit isn't enough and you'll have to pay £xx toward the phone, but we'll call T-Mobile and see what they say. On at least 3 occasions the phone call to T-Mobile effectively went "Oh yeah, he's been a customer for years, we'll bump up the upgrade credit to match the price of the phone no problem!"

Since EE took over CPW can only offer what the computer says and there's no longer anyone for them to call.

[Anonymous Coward]

Well the just lost me as a customer.

After constant price rises, broadband only is now more expensive than most LL+ADSL options.

Plus their service gets more unreliable every month.

Can't help but think the Liberty takeover was responsible for this downhill trend.

[Valerion]

They lost me, too. The continual price-rises finally got to me. I usually worked around it by saying I was going to leave and getting a discount for a while, but this time I just ditched the TV altogether. Most watching is NowTV (which actually has Sky Atlantic) and Netflix anyway. Freeview fills in most of the gaps.

I kept the broadband (ultimately theirs is better) but reduced my spend by about £40 p/m. A month in and I haven't missed it once.

[Steve Loughran]

it started years ago

Those "congratulations the speed you won't ever see has been increased (oh and we are increasing your monthly bill even though you wont see the speedup)" missives were coming for years. Switching back to BT infinity has worked well, even though their hubs are stunningly awful.

[All names Taken]

That's the idea silly? (!)

Most organisations don't like to sack, fire, get shut of people unless there is a deserving reason.

Employers prefer to employ rather than unemploy.

In general that is and I accept there are exceptions such as the relationship between a Tory guvmint and those it despises?

So when profits are threatened or cash flow imbalances make it difficult to turn a profit the directors have to do something. Sure, they could get reserves out of the bank and give them to fellow employees but that could lead to court action or dismissal from being a director.

I guess you know the rest?

Every organisation I worked for managed an increase in dividend to shareholders during or about a recession and yes, that did mean dismissing some staff. It is reality n'est pas?

Nobody likes it (in general and exceptions permitting) but that is how businesses stay in business.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: That's the idea silly? (!)

all well and good, until they cut so far back that the customer service fails, customers leave, income drops off a cliff and then what?

[dotdavid]

Re: That's the idea silly? (!)

"and then what?"

Shareholders sell, happy with the Shareholder Value they have earned, and skip off into the sunset. No-one but the customers and staff care about the failing business and they're not Key Stakeholders.

[All names Taken]

Re: That's the idea silly? (!)

That's the directors job, duty and responsibility.

I know consequence happens on employees especially those directly affected by (shudder) job loss.

On the other hand the employees (affected or not) job, duty and responsibility is usually defined in the job contract?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: That's the idea silly? (!)

"all well and good, until they cut so far back that the customer service fails, customers leave, income drops off a cliff and then what?"

If there's a price war to the death going on, all you need to be is not the worst.

British consumers buy mostly on price alone. That's why white goods manufacturers produce special cheap versions of their products only for the UK. Elsewhere in Europe no-one would buy them.

That British mindset means that being cheap is more important for survival than being good.

[David Neil]

Mobile service losing customers

No wonder, high price for what you get in terms of data allowance and no sign of 4g at all

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Mobile service losing customers

I left Virgin Mobile when I lost my job with Virgin Media, not because of the lack of 4G because even on EE 4G I don't get any higher speed than I was getting on, VM's mobile service since EE cannot deliver good signals where I live.

Virgin will have a 4G service but they are still building it since they are building there own rather than relying on other providers.