Cable operator Liberty Global reconfirmed its full year guidance targets as fourth quarter consolidated revenues went up 12 percent year-on-year to USD 2.54 billion, driven mainly by the addition of KBW and Aster and organic revenue increase, offset by negative forex effects. Excluding the acquisition of KBW and Aster, rebased revenue lifted 5.5 percent to USD 2.54 billion. Liberty Global said the integration of the two German operations was "well underway". At the end of Q1, the operator provided service to a total of 33.4 million revenue-generating units (RGUs), including 18.4 million video, 8.5 million broadband internet, and 6.5 telephony RGUs, an addition of 586,000 total RGUs. The increase includes 445,000 organic RGU additions and 136,000 that were added from 1 January, when the company began counting small office home office (SOHO) RGUs for external reporting purposes. The company lost 86,000 video RGU's, compared to a loss of 85,000 RGUs the year before. Liberty added 279,000 digital cable subscribers (penetration at 47%), 254,000 broadband internet customers (up34%), as well as 277,000 telephony subscribers (up 79%). The customer base reached 19.6 million customers, including 11.2 million single-play, 2.9 double-play and 5.5 triple-play subscribers. Liberty said it now has 431 percent of customers taking more than one service. The operating cash flow improved 13 percent to USD 1.20 billion and was up 3 percent on an organic basis. The net loss amounted to USD 25 million or USD 0.09 per diluted share, from a net loss of 435 million in Q4 and a gain of USD 342 million the year earlier or 1.22 per diluted share. The year-on-year decline was largely due to higher losses on derivative instruments. Liberty Global increased capex to USD 521 million or 21 percent of revenues, while free cash flow rose 7 percent to USD 242 million. The company finished the year with USD 1.7 billion in cash.
