Originally Posted by towny

I am well aware of the difference, and also the difference between an overall net profit and an operating profit. (I work in the Corporate Affairs dept of a large plc and have just come out of an Annual Report planning meeting)

They made more money selling their services than they spent providing them. Hence, they made an operating profit, which is what I said in my first post. Overall they made a loss, although a smaller one than previously, and I think we're aware of the long-term problems that are responsible for that.

Nevertheless the fact that the core consumer business has proven, for the first time in 10 years, that it is capable of operating profitably, is extremely significant as it demonstrates that cable-delivered consumer communications services really are a viable business. In that respect I think the Times article, which chose to headline on the operating profit, is more accurate than the BBC online article, which chose to lead off on the overall fall in net loss.