Liberty Global (Europe) surpassed the two million subscriber mark for its Horizon suite of products, while in the UK its TiVo base was nearly three million, in the first quarter.
In its latest set of results the company notes that it converted over 275,000 video subscribers into next generation ones in the first three months of this year, 190,000 of who opted for Horizon TV.
Growth was particularly strong in the Netherlands, where Liberty added over 100,000 new Horizon TV subscribers for the third consecutive quarter. It also gained almost 80,000 TiVo customers in the UK, thereby taking the penetration figure to 80% of its video base.
Liberty notes that in the UK Virgin Media is preparing for the launch of a new set-top box.
It also says that 35% of its total video base in countries offering next generation TV services subscribed to one of its next generation platforms as of March 31 this year, up from 28% in the corresponding period last year.
More generally, Liberty increased its total RGU base by 135,000 organic additions in Q1, an increase of 100,000 year-on-year, with the growth being split quite evenly between it WE and CEE operations (71,000 and 64,000 respectively). In WE, Virgin Media, with 110,000 additions, was the main driver, while Ziggo in the Netherlands lost 40,000.
Liberty lost 142,000 video subscribers in Q1, compared to 164,000 a year earlier, with the improvement being largely down to a better performance in CEE.
Liberty’s European operations posted total revenues of $4,284.1 million in Q1, compared to $4,229.1 million a year earlier, while OCF amounted to $1,993.6 million ($1,989.1 million).
Commenting on the results, CEO Mike Fries said: CEO Mike Fries said: “We exceeded our own expectations for the first quarter with more than 150,000 new RGUs, a sharp increase from last year, as we demonstrated improved momentum across all products. At the same time, we successfully landed price increases across markets, laying the foundation for faster growth during the remainder of the year. The standout performer this quarter was Virgin Media in the UK, where record low churn and new build investments contributed to our best Q1 result since 2010.”
“Our innovation pipeline remains full, with a clear focus on further enhancing the customer experience. We are constantly improving our video products with great new functionality such as Horizon Go and Replay TV, along with additional HD content, while the new Connect Box provides our broadband customers with superior in-home connectivity, supporting speeds of up to 1 Gbps. These improving consumer value propositions, together with ongoing new build activities across our footprint, are expected to drive higher quarterly RGU additions during the balance of 2016.”
“Our B2B business, another key driver of future growth, delivered strong results in Q1, with 10% rebased revenue growth. Wireless highlights for the quarter include 100,000 organic postpaid mobile subscriber additions, as well as Telenet’s completion of the BASE acquisition. That integration is already well underway and we have identified an incremental €70 million of annual efficiencies, bringing the total synergy target13 to €220 million. We also remain in constructive dialogue with the European Commission regarding the combination of Ziggo’s fiber-rich broadband network with Vodafone’s leading 4G mobile network in the Netherlands. This highly complementary joint venture will create a strong national competitor and we expect the transaction to close around the end of 2016.”
“In terms of our financial results, Liberty Global Group reported 3% rebased growth for both revenue and OCF in Europe for Q1, which was in-line with our expectations. Looking ahead, we expect our OCF growth to improve throughout the year and are therefore confirming our guidance of 5% to 7% rebased growth in Europe, excluding Ziggo and BASE, for full-year 2016. We are also confirming our Free Cash Flow guidance for at least $2 billion this year, as our FCF results are typically weighted to the second half of the year.”
