TELEWEST last night produced further evidence of its recovery by announcing an 81 per cent fall in quarterly losses.

The cable operator said it made a net loss of £36m in the three months to March 31, against £187m at the same time last year.

The group also made an operating profit before one-off items of £2m during the quarter, compared with losses of £22m a year ago.

It said arrangements for its proposed financial restructuring had taken a step forward with the setting of dates for meetings with shareholders and creditors.

The shake-up, which Telewest hopes will reduce its £5.37bn debt mountain, will lead to a debt-for-equity refinancing and the re-organisation of the company's structure under holding company Telewest Global.

Dealings in the company's shares on the London stock market will cease and Telewest Global's stock will be listed on the Nasdaq.

"The board of directors has confidence in the successful conclusion of the financial restructuring," the group said in a statement.

Telewest provides multi-channel television, telephone and Internet services to about 1.7 million UK households, as well as voice and data telecommunications services to 70,000 business customers. Its content division, Flextech, is the BBC's partner in UKTV.

In March, Telewest posted net losses of £272m compared with £2.23bn in 2002.