UK Broadband company TalkTalk has missed several payment deadlines to broadband suppliers BT Openreach and CityFibre.
As reported by The Financial Times, TalkTalk has been late in making the payments, worth millions of pounds, in recent months.
Sources told the FT that TalkTalk has missed several deadlines to pay the two companies this year due to cash flow issues.
TalkTalk, the fourth-biggest broadband operator with 3.2 million customers, uses Openreach and CityFibre’s broadband infrastructure to provide services.
The missed payments come despite TalkTalk finalizing a £400 million ($541m) refinancing agreement with lenders. This included a cash injection of £235m ($319m) from shareholders, including the company’s executive chair, Sir Charles Dunstone.
TalkTalk said at the time the deal would enable the company to alleviate fears it would default on payments and extend its debt maturities to 2027.
The FT reports that the late payments have varied in size, but amounted to a “small percentage” of the total figure. Sources told the publication that all the bills have now been paid.
New Street Research estimates that the broadband provider pays its suppliers more than £60m ($81m) each month.
TalkTalk has struggled in recent years, reporting last month that it lost 400,000 customers last year, while reducing its headcount by 20 percent, including 130 jobs being lost at its Salford consumer division in December. The company’s debt is said to be nearing £1.2 billion ($1.63bn).
In 2021, Toscafund Asset Management, previously the second largest shareholder in the company, completed a takeover of TalkTalk for £1.1bn ($1.49bn).
Last year, the company split its business into three units: B2B Wholesale Platform, TalkTalk Consumer, and TalkTalk Business Direct.
Read the orginal article: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/talktalk-late-on-payments-to-broadband-suppliers-report/