Virgin Mobile Hasn't Been Approached About A Takeover
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Virgin Mobile Holdings PLC, the U.K. mobile telecommunications services provider, Thursday said it hasn't received any takeover approaches.
The company's shares have surged over recent weeks on takeover speculation after Telefonica SA's GBP18-billion agreed takeover of O2 PLC left Virgin Mobile as the most obvious takeover target in the U.K.
Virgin Mobile Chief Executive Tom Alexander said on a conference call that Virgin Mobile has a strong brand, is an efficient business and has got growth momentum.
"Profitable growth is attractive to other players," he said, adding; "We are a very interesting piece of the jigsaw puzzle going forward."
Alexander added: "My view is that there will be consolidation at the network level." Virgin Mobile isn't one of the five U.K. mobile network operators in the U.K., as it leases capacity from T-Mobile International AG's U.K. business.
Virgin Mobile Chief Financial Officer Alan Gow said that he expects the volume of new customers to be "significantly higher" in the second half. Some analysts were disappointed that Virgin added only 44,000 new users in the second quarter.
Gow pointed to the Christmas sales period, the company's investment in improving its customer service and retail distribution network, the expansion of its contract offer and "hot products" like the pink-colored Motorola Inc. (MOT) Razr handset as growth drivers.
Company Web site: http://www.virginmobile.com
-By Nic Fildes, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9264; nicolas.fildes@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires "
Posted to the site on 17th November 2005
