Whipping the analysts' expectation on Thursday, Virgin Media Inc. (VMED) posted a climb of 1.3% to £953 million in its third quarter results endearing the strong consumer demand for its Internet broadband, pay-television and mobile services.

Astoundingly, under the era of economic slump, the rise of operating profit before exceptional items for Virgin Media growth of 6.7% to GBP348 million in the third and a rival British Sky Broadcasting PLC's (BSY) growth of 8.8% to GBP198 million in the same quarter are each benefiting from strong user demand for home entertainment.

Captivating the 873,000 customers, Virgin's mobile business grew 51% year-on-year, while its TV arm is gaining from the analogue to digital switchover, with the number of subscribers up 37,000 to 3.71 million.

With the expectation to carry the thrust till the final year, the group's focus remains "on attracting high value customers, who buy more from us and stay with us longer"; "This strategy has led to the second successive quarter of record ARPU and strong consumer revenue growth", said Neil Berkett, the Chief Executive

Assessing the company at GBP2.77 billion with the share closure at 845 pence Wednesday on the London Stock Exchange, Virgin Media has also reported "very good results with a big beat" in ARPU, revenue and earnings", said Wilton Fry, an analyst with Bank of America Merrill Lynch.