Virgin Media has won approval from its banks to postpone repayments on its £4.3 billion debt burden until 2012.

The US-listed group, in which Sir Richard Branson is the biggest individual shareholder, announced on October 13 that it was seeking to make changes to its debt package in light of the turmoil in the credit markets.

It said at the time it had the "unanimous support" of its 10 biggest bank lenders.

The company was due to refinance its debt next year, ahead of a set of hefty repayments, including £1.1 billion in 2010 and just under £1 billion in 2011. Given the current credit squeeze, Virgin Media chose to brings talks with its lenders forward rather than face a problem next year.

Although the move will leave the group with a large debt burden to pay off in 2012, analysts say the three-year delay will buy the company time to look at other options, including selling assets.

The hope is that Neil Berkett, chief executive of Virgin Media, will be able to bring the business to the point where the free cashflow can cope with the repayments.

Virgin Media's shares have fallen around 70 per cent in the last year, partly due to concerns over its mounting debt levels.

The group is due to announce its third-quarter results on Thursday.

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