Telecoms group Virgin Media O2 has warned over falling sales and earnings in 2026 as it revealed hefty mobile customer losses after hiking prices.
The group said it lost 397,500 mobile customers on a net basis last year, with a 164,800 plunge in the fourth quarter largely due to O2 price hikes.
Last October, Virgin Media O2 announced it would put up prices for its 15.6 million mobile customers by £2.50 a month from spring 2026, having previously said the increase would be £1.80.
The firm also said it lost 138,400 broadband customers on a net basis in 2025 after shedding another 16,700 in the final three months.
Annual results showed underlying earnings fell 0.4% over the year to £3.9 billion after a 2.4% drop in the final quarter.
With the recent deal with business-to-business provider Daisy stripped out, it said earnings rose 0.9% over the year and fell 1.3% over the last three months.
Virgin Media O2 cautioned over steeper declines in the year ahead as “challenging market conditions” are set to continue.
It is guiding towards a drop in underlying earnings of 3% to 5%, stripping out its takeover of Daisy, while underlying total service revenues are also expected to drop by 3% to 5%.
Virgin Media O2 and Daisy Group last year merged their business communications and IT operations to create a telecoms company with sales of about £1.4 billion a year, called O2 Daisy.
Virgin Media O2 said the lower sales outlook “reflects heightened promotional intensity and ongoing uncertainty in the consumer fixed market, alongside the planned streamlining of the business-to-business product portfolio”.
It will look to make cost savings to offset the impact.
Lutz Schuler, chief executive of Virgin Media O2, said: “While we expect challenging market conditions to continue in 2026, we are well positioned to seize the right opportunities in each of our business areas – consumer, business-to-business and wholesale – and the foundations we’re putting in place today will help to build long-term customer trust and fuel future profitability and cash generation.”
Read MoreBarratt profits drop amid budget uncertainty and subdued buyer demand
Dunelm sees profits hit after festive sales miss but trading starting to rebound
BP halts share buybacks and ramps up cost-cutting as profits slump
