How well is Liberty Global now performing in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)?
It’s probably a question we should be asking ourselves every quarter, following the publication of the company’s latest set of results. Unfortunately, to answer it requires more than just referring to the fixed income release and earnings presentation, which barely mention the region. Rather, we should look at the results themselves, for some stats, and just as importantly the reports provided by individual UPC operations in CEE, for more detailed information.
Firstly, here are some stats. Revenues for the company’s operations in CEE in Q3 were, at $266.2 million, 14.7% down on the same period in 2014. However, on a rebased basis there were actually up by 1.6%.
Even so, whichever way one looks at them, they were only a fraction – less than a tenth – of those in Western Europe.
Meanwhile, OCF (Operating Cash Flow) was, at $119 million, 24.7% down on a year earlier and 1.3% lower on a rebased basis. Again, it was significantly less than in Western Europe.
Looking at subscriber figures, Q3 was a good quarter for Liberty’s DTH operations in the four CEE markets they are present in, with all gaining subscribers and the highest increase – 13,500 – being seen in Romania. As of the end September, a total of 798,600 homes in the four countries received UPC DTH services.
Interestingly, unlike in Western Europe, each Liberty operation in CEE saw an overall increase in its total video customer base in Q3, with Romania, gaining 14,800, again the star performer.
Ditto internet and telephony subscribers, with the sole exception of the latter being the Czech Republic, where the total fell by 1,900 in the three months to September 30.
Looking at summaries produced by individual operations, UPC in the Czech Republic says that it gained 2,600 customers in Q3 and also improved the full range of services available. The number of homes with access to digital TV and broadband internet rose by 2,600 to 1,354,600, with the total number of customers 599,500.
It also points out that it has launched Horizon, MyPrime and UPC Wi-Free this year and has since September offered internet access speeds of up to 300 Mbps. The number of customers receiving the Horizon service already stands at over 170,000.
In Poland, UPC lists the highlights of Q3 as network build in new locations and the launch of services in the city of Rzeszów; a 19,400 increase in RGUs, the launch of a new flexible new offer promoted by a marketing campaign; and addition of 11 new HD channels to its digital TV line-up.
It also says that at the end of Q3 it reached 2.8 million households, with all of them being able to receive internet access at up to 250 Mbps.
Although UPC did not provide a summary of its progress in Slovakia in Q3, we can note that it included the introduction of a 500 Mbps internet service.
There was also no summary for Hungary, though we know that highlights in Q3 included the expansion of UPC’s MyPrime.
Finally in Romania, the company notes that it surpassed 2 million subscriptions, increasing both customer numbers and revenue, in the third quarter.
It adds that the focus in Q3 was the expansion and modernisation of its 500 Mbps Fiber Power service, which is now available nationally.
Meanwhile, in one year, coverage of its digital services grew by almost 14%, or 300,000 new homes. As of September 30, they could be received by around 2.5 million households throughout Romania.
The company also notes that excluding currency fluctuations, its net income in Q3 was 10% higher than in the same period in 2014.
