Multi-national telecommunications provider Liberty Global saw its global revenue increase 1.4 percent to just over $1.83 billion during the second quarter (Q2) of 2024, the company disclosed last week.
On a year-over basis, Liberty Global fully reversed its financial loss from last year, earning $275.2 million in profit during Q2 2024, compared to a financial loss of $511.3 million logged during the same time period in 2023. The profit came despite losing thousands of fixed-line customers across its business segments in the Switzerland, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands and other parts of Europe.
“Q2 has been another active quarter as we’ve continued to drive our strategic priorities — maximizing the value of our FMCs, leveraging our Ventures portfolio, and taking steps to deliver that value directly to shareholders over time,” Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries said in a statement. (“FMC” stands for “fixed-mobile convergence,” or the number of customers who bundle their broadband Internet service with a wireless plan.)
“Our plan to spin-off Sunrise remains on track for Q4 this year and the Sunrise management team will host a Capital Markets Day in Zurich on September 9th,” Fries continued. “We have also confirmed our intention to pay a CHF 240 million (around U.S. $271.6 million) dividend in 2025.”
Fries said Liberty Global’s fiber-based Internet now reaches more than 5 million homes and continues to ramp up, particularly after the company acquired much-needed wireless spectrum through a mobile network-sharing partnership with Vodafone, among other initiatives.
“Our value creation strategy is supported by our robust balance sheet and disciplined capital allocation model,” Fries affirmed. “We have $3.5 billion of cash and a long-term, fixed-rate debt profile with no material maturities until 2028. As part of our ongoing commitment to shareholder remuneration, we’ve repurchased around 5 percent of our shares outstanding through July 19th against our target of up to 10 percent of shares by year-end.”
Fries continued: “Against a highly competitive backdrop in the U.K. our strategy of focusing on value over volume, as well as successful implementation of the price rise, supported a recovery in fixed ARPU. In Switzerland, we’re continuing to build operating momentum in both the main brand and flanker brands, supporting continued growth in broadband net adds and strong growth in mobile postpaid. We delivered a standout performance in the Netherlands during the quarter, supported by the fixed price rise and solid growth in mobile and B2B. In Belgium, as anticipated, a tough comp from the prior year did impact financial performance, but we continue to drive strong fixed ARPU growth, and we’re seeing good trading performance following the launch of our BASE FMC offering nationwide. We are confirming today all 2024 guidance metrics, [except for] VMO2 revenue, which moves from ‘stable to decline’ to ‘low to mid-single-digit decline’, reflecting the continued pressure on low-margin mobile hardware revenues.”
Across its Sunrise, Telenet, Virgin Mobile Ireland and UPC Slovakia businesses, Liberty Global saw a 19,200 drop in customers, lower than the 29,300 customers who left in Q2 2023. Liberty Global cited a number of factors across its businesses, from increased competition at Telenet to the loss of a lucrative government contract at Vodafone-Ziggy.
In addition to its broadband and wireless divisions, Liberty Global holds a minority stake in British public service broadcaster ITV, Poland’s Platforma Canal Plus and Virgin Media Television in Ireland.
