Liberty Global saw its revenue growth improve in the first quarter, thanks to a strong performance in Germany and the UK. On an organic basis, revenue rose 4.2 percent year-on-year to USD 4.2 billion, and operating cash flow was up 4.7 percent to USD 1.9 billion. The cable company maintained its outlook for OCF organic growth of around 5 percent over the full year.
Customer growth slowed compared to the year-earlier period, with RGU net additions down 73 percent to 66,000 in Q1. Liberty Global said results were similar year-on-year in Central and Eastern Europe, offset by weaker trends in Western Europe, notably in Belgium, Switzerland and Austria. In total the company lost 84,000 TV subscribers in the quarter, and broadband and voice growth was down to net additions of respectively 78,300 and 71,800.
The revenue growth came from price increases and upselling to more advanced products. ARPU rose 1.3 percent on an organic basis to USD 46.04. Penetration of the next-generation video platform, including Horizon and Tivo, rose to 45 percent of TV customers or 7.9 million subscribers, after net additions of 201,000 in Q1. The WiFi Connect box grew by 800,000 in the quarter to nearly 7.3 million or 48 percent of broadband subscribers.
Liberty Global also benefited from a USD 33.2 million settlement of carriage fees in Germany, as well as 12.4 percent growth in B2B revenues. The mobile business posted organic revenue growth of 4.5 percent, led by strong handset sales at Virgin Mobile in the UK.
The company's operating profit improved 17.5 percent from a year ago to USD 493.1 million. The net loss widened to USD 1.187 billion from USD 326 million, due to financing costs and forex losses. Net leverage was at 5.2x at the end of March.
Capital expenditure increased to USD 646 million from USD 500 million a year ago, equal to just over 30 percent of revenues. The group added 228,400 homes passed to its network in Q1, including 21,600 from an acquisition in Romania, for a total of 45.45 million at the end of March.
Liberty Global also announced that it expects to complete the sale of UPC Austria to T-Mobile in the second half of this year.
