News
U.K. telco lost 101,000 customers during fiscal Q3; revenue growth slows.
TalkTalk on Tuesday revealed the estimated cost of October’s cyberattack was far larger than first thought.
The U.K. telco suffered what it called a significant and sustained attack that compromised the personal information of around 157,000 customers.
Reporting its fiscal third quarter results on Tuesday, TalkTalk said the attack cost it approximately £15 million in forgone revenue, and £40 million-£45 million in one-off charges. That compares to an earlier estimate of £30 million-£35 million.
The company lost 101,000 customers during the three months to 31 December, of which 95,000 were attributed to the cyberattack.
TalkTalk gave every customer a choice of free upgrades during December in a bid to make amends; 489,000 customers took up the offer.
The telco said that as a result of the actions it took in the aftermath of the attack, it saw a return to positive growth in revenue generating units (RGUs) in January.
"It is encouraging to see the business returning to normal after a challenging quarter that was dominated by the cyberattack," said TalkTalk CEO Dido Harding, in a statement.
On the financial side, TalkTalk said revenue grew 1.8% during the third quarter, compared to growth of 5.9% in the previous quarter and 4.2% a year earlier. The telco declined to share an actual revenue figure.
"Looking forward, we expect to deliver a material step up in profits in H2, with full year results in line with market consensus," Harding said.
