LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Virgin Media Inc. (VMED) said Wednesday that it lost 36,000 cable customers in the second quarter, slightly more than the market expected as the cable-television and Internet provider focused on customer value over volume. The group also announced a new plan to return capital of up to GBP850 million to shareholders. MAIN FACTS: - Second quarter revenue GBP985.8m, up from GBP964.2m a year earlier - Cable revenue GBP682.3m, up from GBP656.4m a year earlier - Cable average revenue per user, or ARPU, of GBP47.35, up from GBP45.88 - Operating cash flow GBP392.1m, up from GBP369.7m a year earlier - Operating income GBP134.9m, up from GBP79.6m a year earlier - Free cash flow GBP122.7m, up from GBP108.9m a year earlier - New capital return program of up to GBP850m; up to GBP625m for stock buyback by end of 2012 - Reaffirmed target of approximately 3.0 times net debt to operating cash flow within one to two years -By Lilly Vitorovich, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-0-207 842 9290; lilly.vitorovich@dowjones.com
