Liberty Global sees improved performance

Liberty Global managed to significantly improve its operating performance in the second quarter, boosted by an improved showing by its struggling Romanian operations and strong growth in Chile. 

Liberty Global added 115,000 revenue-generating units in the quarter to June, a year-on-year increase of 70% in organic additions, and saw revenue increase by 8% to €995 million. Operating cash-flow was up 10% to €475 million, representing rebased growth of 6%.

The operator lost 55,000 video subscribers in the quarter, a 32% improvement on the prior year, helped by a better performance from UPC Romania.

The operator added 86,000 telephony subscribers and 84,000 broadband subscribers in the course of the quarter. Of the operator’s 9.9 million customers at the end of June, approximately one in four took a triple-play package, with 310,000 customers becoming triple-play subscribers over the past year.

German operation Unitymedia performed strongly, adding 99,400 RGUs in the quarter, representing 37% growth in additions year-on-year.
Among its European customer base, the operator’s triple-pay base now amounts to 22.6% of the total, with an overall European customer base of 8.8 million. UPC’s ARPU was €27.66, up 5.4% on a currency-neutral basis.
Liberty Global posted revenues of €994.5 million for the quarter, up 5.5%.