Liberty Global ended 2009 on a high note, with Q4 revenues for its UPC Broadband Division being 11.6% up year-on-year at $1,111.3 million (€820.2 million). For the year as a whole, however, they fell by 6.3% to $4,117.3 million.
Liberty Global’s operating income in Q4 meanwhile amounted to $469.4 million ($224.6 million in Q4 2008) and $1,637 million for the year as a whole ($1,345.6 million).
The UPC Broadband subscriber total stood at 9,102,200 as of the end of Q4, practically unchanged on three months earlier and 2.2% down on the end 2008 figure. ARPU for 2009 was €23.65, as opposed to €23.34 a year earlier.
Q4 saw strong growth in digital TV take-up in all UPC Broadband markets, with the best performing being The Netherlands (+40,700 q-o-q) and Poland (+35,500). However, in almost all cases, this was offset by an even higher loss in analogue subscribers.
Romania was the best performing market in the DTH sector, while the Czech Republic, where UPC Direct faces strong competition from Skylink and CS Link, saw a q-o-q loss of 3,500.
