Kingston Comms cops £111m loss

Kingston Communications - the telco which operates in Hull - racked up losses of more than £100m last year after the company reassessed the value of its network.

The telco decided to write down the value of its network by a whopping £97.6m. According to a statement yesterday Kingston made the decision "in light of the current market conditions, which have changed significantly since the original investment was made in our network."

As a result, Kingston ran up a pre-tax loss of £111m in the year to the end of March, compared to a pre-tax loss of £20.8m last year. "This is largely due to the accelerated write down of assets and restructuring costs," said the company.

Revenues climbed 4.5 per cent to £293.6m up from £281m in the previous year.

In a bid to drag the telco back into profit Kingston has managed to meet its target to cut costs by £10m. Kingston's done this by "streamlining management structure" and reducing its cost base and other internal re-organisations.

Oh, and Kingston's cost savings have "predominantly been achieved through reducing overall headcount by around 240".

Said chairman Michael Abrahams: "We have taken the decision to accelerate the write down of our network assets, reflecting the significant changes in the market place since the original investments were undertaken."

Kingston now believes it is well placed to deliver a sustainable return to profit by concentrating on the provision of terrestrial telecommunications services, said the company. ®

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