TALK.L Share News (TALK)

(Sharecast News) - TalkTalk's annual loss shrank to £5m from £100m as the telecoms company increased earnings and reduced reorganisation spending.The pre-tax loss for the year to the end of March narrowed as so-called headline earnings rose 16.7% to £237m. The earnings increase was fuelled by more customers, increased fibre penetration and cost cuts.The company declared a final dividend of 1.5p a share, taking the annual payout to 2.5p a share - down from 4p a year earlier.The FTSE 250 company is trying to revive its fortunes by investing in its own full fibre network instead of using BT's capacity. It has also cut prices in a battle for customers with Vodafone. The price cuts resulted in a profit warning in February but the company has stuck to its strategy.The company has also gone through a major internal revamp, moving its head office from London to Salford in Greater Manchester and spending on IT improvements. Reorganisation spending fell to £42m from £115m and cost of sales declined to £770m from £812m.Tristia Harrison, TalkTalk's chief executive, said: "Today's results show that, two years after resetting TalkTalk, the fundamentals of the business are much stronger. We have grown our customer base in a disciplined way, accelerated fibre take-up, and reduced costs."Harrison said the board was confident about increasing earnings in the current financial year in line with expectations, helped by further cost reductions.The company's shares fell 1% to 113.9p at 0927 BST.