(Adds CEO comments, shares)
LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - British broadband operator
TalkTalk upgraded its guidance for full-year earnings
on Tuesday after seeing trading recover in June and July.
The company said it expected headline core earnings for its
2021 financial year to be stable or to grow, an improvement on
its previous forecast for a flat performance.
It reported headline revenue down 7.5% at 358 million
pounds ($454 million) for its first quarter.
CEO Tristia Harrison said TalkTalk was strengthening its
outlook based on the recovery it was seeing in trading and
costs. "We've seen huge surges in demand driven by video, gaming
and homeworking," she said.
TalkTalk's revenue was hit during lockdown by a
industry-wide drop in customer acquisitions and connections, a
continuing decline in voice calls and the cancellation of
sporting events.
"Through June and July we've bounced back very strongly, our
fibre growth is back up, our ethernet - which is our B2B
business - is back up, we are seeing good green shoots on
revenue and really importantly, we've been able to drive
incremental and ongoing costs savings," she said.
TalkTalk will this month launch full fibre to the premises
plans via BT's Openreach network, she said.
The company was still in talks with Openreach about a new
wholesale deal, she said, adding: "In terms of a long-term
agreement, it will take a bit of time."
Shares in TalkTalk reversed early gains to trade down 3% at
76.3 pence at 0800 GMT.
($1 = 0.7882 pounds)
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Sarah Young)
