TalkTalk boss: working from home is here to stay

TALKTALK is enjoying a working-from-home boom, today upgrading profit forecasts as its business becomes ever more vital to a wider number of individuals and businesses.

Chief executive Tristia Harrison thinks WFH is here to stay – TalkTalk has just introduced a home worker package and is in talks with employers about subsidy deals.

While revenue in the second quarter slipped a little to £358 million due to falls in traditional phone calls and the cancellation of live sports, cost savings should outstrip that, allowing TalkTalk to predict that earnings next year will be stable or grow, an improvement on its previous forecast of flat.

Harrison said: “We have managed well with the majority of our people at home. I cannot see a situation where it returns to normal.”

She added: “Come autumn when kids are back at school people may crave some office contact, but I think that will be to pop in for a meeting and mostly avoid the cost of the commute. We see that as an opportunity.”

Video streaming and online gaming traffic has boomed, with Fortnite, Call of Duty and Fifa the most popular games.

TalkTalk has put aside £15 million to cover the cost of bad debts but thinks this will prove a conservative amount as the vast majority of customers keep paying their bills.

The company added 67,000 new customers, most of them taking the fastest internet speed available.

TalkTalk faces a slightly tricky AGM today with some shareholders likely to complain about bonuses to Harrison and chief financial officer Kate Ferry.