Liberty Global reports Q1 2023 results

DENVER, Colorado — Liberty Global plc today announced its Q1 2023 financial results.

CEO Mike Fries stated, “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.”

Q1 Operating Highlights

Sunrise (Consolidated)

Sunrise is maintaining its commercial momentum despite continued headwinds in fixed as a result of the competitive landscape and the continued migration of UPC’s legacy broadband base. Sunrise continued momentum in mobile postpaid additions, despite some increased seasonality after a strong Q4, achieving 36,100 mobile postpaid net adds in Q1. Sunrise also maintained positive broadband net adds of 7,200 in Q1 despite the ongoing phase out of the UPC brand, supported by improved churn trends and flanker brand sales. Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC) penetration remains high at 58% across Sunrise’s broadband base.

Telenet (Consolidated)

Telenet added 13,100 mobile postpaid customers in Q1, driven by continued FMC growth and a strong performance at BASE. The broadband base modestly contracted by 1,800 RGUs in Q1, reflecting an intense competitive environment, and both video and fixed-line telephony RGUs continued to contract, mainly driven by macroeconomic trends and shifting consumer preferences. In addition, the NetCo agreement with Fluvius is now expected to close in summer 2023.

VMO2 (Non-consolidated Joint Venture)

VMO2 remains focused on customer experience and continues to optimize the potential of its networks through Volt, its flagship converged offering. The fixed customer base grew by 20,900 net adds in Q1, supported by a reduced level of customer churn. Demand for fast and highquality broadband continued, with Q1 broadband net adds of 28,800, while the average download speed across its broadband base increased 36% YoY to 315 Mbps, approximately 5x higher than the national average. During Q1, VMO2 built 108,000 FTTH premises, the majority of which were built for the nexfibre JV. In mobile, VMO2 reached 50% 5G coverage in more than 2,100 towns and cities and remains on track to deliver 5G services to more than 50% of the entire U.K. population this year.

VodafoneZiggo (Non-consolidated Joint Venture)

VodafoneZiggo continues to improve its commercial momentum, as FMC households grew by 6,400 in Q1 to over 1.5 million households, and FMC SIMs increased by 9,800 in Q1 to nearly 2.6 million, delivering significant Net Promoter Scores and customer loyalty benefits. Mobile postpaid SIMs grew 38,500 to nearly 5.2 million SIMs, while mobile postpaid ARPU declined 2.3% YoY, primarily driven by ARPU decline in B2B. Total internet RGUs declined by 8,500 in the quarter, as a 18,500 decline in Consumer RGUs was only partially offset by a 10,000 increase in B2B RGUs. Fixed ARPU declined 0.7% YoY.

Operating Data – Video Subscribers

                                               March 31, 2023 vs.
                               March 31, 2023   December 31, 2022
                               --------------  ------------------
Consolidated Liberty Global:
 Switzerland[1]                     1,239,600             (5,600)
 Belgium                            1,684,000            (19,600)
 Ireland                              251,800             (8,900)
 Slovakia                             164,300               (600)
 Luxembourg[2]                         43,800             (2,200)
                               --------------  ------------------
Total Liberty Global                3,383,500            (36,900)

VMO2 JV
VodafoneZiggo JV[3]                 3,644,600            (20,100)

Q1 2023 Liberty Global Adjustments:
 Switzerland                                               28,700
 Belgium                                                    8,900
 Luxembourg[2]                                             46,000
                                               ------------------
Total adjustments                                          83,600

1. Pursuant to service agreements, Switzerland offers broadband internet, video and telephony services over networks owned by third-party operators (“partner networks”), and following the acquisition of Sunrise, also services homes through Sunrise’s existing agreements with Swisscom, Swiss Fibre Net and local utilities. Under these agreements, RGUs are only recognized if there is a direct billing relationship with the customer. Homes passed or serviceable through the above service agreements are not included in Switzerland’s homes passed count as we do not own these networks. Including these arrangements, our operations in Switzerland have the ability to offer fixed services to the national footprint.
2. Relates to our business in Luxembourg as a result of Telenet’s January 2023 acquisition of Eltrona.
3. Fixed subscriber counts for the VodafoneZiggo JV include B2B subscribers.