Liberty Global Announces Q1 2023 Results
CEO Mike Fries stated, “Our Q1 performance demonstrates that the need for reliable high-quality connectivity remains strong across our footprint. This commercial momentum supports our commitment to investing in our market-leading fixed and mobile networks and driving product innovation to ensure an exceptional customer experience.
While Q1 saw an anticipated step up in the impact of energy and labor costs on our core FMC businesses, we are taking reasonable price adjustments to sustain robust operating margins alongside digital initiatives and continued synergies. As a result, we are in a strong position to deliver for our shareholders in 2023, supported by our ample liquidity and our 10% minimum buyback commitment.
In Q1 we continued to grow our aggregate broadband and postpaid mobile base delivering 90,000 net new subscribers, supported by broadband additions in the U.K., Switzerland and Belgium as well as
continuing positive postpaid mobile trends. On the financial front, we reported stable revenue growth with a diverse revenue mix at each operating company. Our Adjusted EBITDA trends were affected by
the anticipated phasing that we flagged for investors in February related to the timing of price increases and cost inflation impacts. We recently announced a price rise at Sunrise in Switzerland and now have price increases planned in all our markets that will support Adjusted EBITDA through the rest of the year.
The first quarter was active on the strategic front. We announced our intention to buyout the remaining publicly traded stake in Telenet at a bid price of €22 per share, with unanimous support of Telenet’s management and its board of directors. This transaction offers an attractive premium for Telenet shareholders to monetize their investment. Additionally, we are proposing a change in the jurisdiction of our parent company from England & Wales to Bermuda. This would enable us to have U.S.-style governance that aligns with our U.S. listing and our largely U.S. shareholder base. The principal reason for the proposal is to facilitate future shareholder value creation by moving away from complex English corporate laws and into a jurisdiction that makes it substantially easier to facilitate future share buybacks and self-tender offers, spin-offs and split-offs and other similar transactions. Shareholder approval is required to effect the change, and we have filed a preliminary proxy statement describing the proposals in greater detail. This transaction is not tax driven, and if approved, the transaction will have no impact on the day-to-day operations or any of our commitments in the UK and the rest of Europe where we remain a substantial employer and service provider.
We are on track for all 2023 full-year guidance metrics at our operating companies and $1.6 billion of Distributable Cash Flow at Liberty Global. This is supported by shareholder distributions from our joint
ventures in the U.K. and the Netherlands and Adjusted Free Cash Flow from our consolidated operating companies in Switzerland and Belgium. Even after several investments in the quarter, our balance sheet remains strong with ~$4 billion of cash, of which $2.8 billion is corporate cash.
We plan to replenish the spent cash throughout the year as we generate substantial Distributable Cash Flow from our OpCos and potentially benefit from certain asset sales from our Ventures portfolio. In addition, our stock continues to offer attractive value at current price levels. We have repurchased $330 million of stock year-to-date and will consider accelerating purchases through the balance of the year.
Read the full release here.
