Virgin Media 02 income hit as cell phone worth hikes set off buyer exodus
Telecoms group Virgin Media O2 has warned over falling sales and earnings in 2026 as it revealed hefty mobile customer losses after hiking prices.
The group lost 397,500 mobile customers last year, with a 164,800 dip in the fourth quarter largely due to O2 price hikes. And it lost 138,400 broadband customers, shedding 16,700 in the final three months.
Annual results showed underlying earnings fell 0.4 per cent to £3.9billion after a 2.4 per cent drop in the final quarter as it warned of steeper declines in the year ahead in a challenging market.
Virgin Media O2 and Daisy Group last year merged business communications and IT operations to create a company with sales of about £1.4billion a year, called O2 Daisy, which will look to make cost savings.
Virgin Media O2 was formed in a £31billion merger between Virgin Media, owned by Liberty Global and O2, owned by Telefonica.
Liberty Global, Telefonica and private equity firm InfraVia recently bought UK alternative fibre firm Substantial Group for £2billion, to strengthen its position against BT’s Openreach, the UK’s biggest operator, fuelling fears over competition implications.
Bad call: Virgin Media O2 lost 397,500 mobile customers last year, with a 164,800 dip in the fourth quarter largely due to O2 price hikes
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