Liberty Global Reports Accelerating Subscriber Growth
August 04 2016 - 7:37PM
Dow Jones News
By Maria Armental
Telecommunications company Liberty Global PLC on Thursday
reported strong subscriber additions as it swung to a quarterly
profit, largely tied to trading gains.
London-based Liberty Global, controlled by American media mogul
John Malone, was formed by the 2005 merger of Europe's then-largest
cable operator, UnitedGlobalCom, and Mr. Malone's Liberty Media
International. Its operations include some of Europe's largest
markets, such as Germany and the U.K., where it owns Virgin Media.
But the company, which has been spending heavily amid an expansion
push, has posted mostly a string of losses, ending the quarter with
more than $50 billion of debt.
European Union regulators have conditionally approved Liberty
Global's bid to combine its business in the Netherlands with
Vodafone Group PLC, a joint venture valued at roughly EUR3.5
billion based on combined revenue and capital expenditure after
integration costs.
On Thursday, Liberty Global said in a regulatory filing that the
effects of the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union could hurt
its business and that it was also facing challenges in Puerto Rico,
due to the economic crisis there.
In addition to its European holdings, Liberty Global also offers
cable services in the Caribbean and Latin America, including Puerto
Rico.
Meanwhile, Liberty Global resumed its buyback program following
its May acquisition of Cable & Wireless Communications. The
company said it bought $700 million in stock during the quarter and
intends to buy at least $3 billion more by the end of 2017.
Over all, Liberty Global reported a profit of $101.4 million,
compared with a loss of $464.7 million a year earlier.
Revenue rose 11% to $5.07 billion, above analysts'
projections.
It added 2.2 million subscribers in the second quarter, compared
with 314,100 a year earlier. Excluding the effect of acquisitions,
Liberty Global reported an increase of 277,000 subscribers,
compared with 138,300 a year earlier.
Shares, inactive in after-hours trading, closed Thursday at
$32.41, down 12% this year.
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 04, 2016 19:22 ET (23:22 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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