KCOM cuts costs to support growth

The Hull-based group said it has introduced cost reductions to support full-year earnings and plans are in place to accelerate changes in this part of the business.

Bill Halbert, chief executive officer, said: “The group continues to make progress in terms of its strategic objectives, in spite of overall revenue performance continuing to be challenged in some specific activities.

“We’re particularly pleased with the overall performance in KC brand, most notably in the consumer channel. Fibre services continue to see strong levels of uptake, well above the UK average, and demand remains ahead of our own initial expectations. Increasingly this investment will allow us to design and introduce advanced fibre-based services.”

Pre-tax profits fell three per cent to £25.4m in the six months to September 30 while revenue fell seven per cent to £173m.

The group said it remains highly cash-generative and it will raise the full year dividend by 10 per cent a year over the next two years.

It added that it is well positioned to exploit profitable growth opportunities in most of its target markets.