Future bright for Virgin Media - report

摘要

Virgin Media is set to benefit from stabilisation in the UK television and communications sector coupled with less aggressive marketing from rival BSkyB, according to a report published last week.rnInvestment bank Morgan Stanley expects the UK cable company to see an acceleration in customer spend and, therefore, an increase in earnings over the corning years.rnThis outlook prompted Morgan Stanley to improve its rating on Virgin Media from "equal-weight" to "overweight". Analysts at the bank raised their share-price target to between US$18 (£9.12) and US$20, up from its current share price of US$15.79. This is still way down from just over US$25 per share twelve months earlier.rn"After years of increasing competitive pressures, management changes, M&A activity and downward estimate revisions, we believe that fundamentals are at an inflection point. We believe this inflection point will be evident in results as Virgin Media layers in price increases in June that should drive accelerating top-line growth," the bank said in a note published last week.