Liberty Global announced second-quarter revenues of USD 2.62 billion, up 21 percent from a year earlier thanks in part to acquisitions and positive currency effects. Organic growth was 4 percent, driven by Germany, the Netherlands and Chile and offset by weakness in East Europe and Australia. Total revenue-generating units were up 4 percent from a year earlier and by 235,000 from March to 28.3 million. Operating cash flow rose 24 percent to USD 1.22 billion, with organic growth at 8 percent. This growth was led by Ireland, Germany and Switzerland, while Chile was lower due to the costs of mobile roll-out. The net loss narrowed to USD 347 million from USD 684 million a year ago, and capex was at USD 508 million, or 19 percent of revenues. The cable group said its new Horizon set-top box will launch in the fourth quarter in the Netherlands, with other countries starting with Switzerland following in early 2012. Liberty also reported that 23 percent of its customers in Europe had a triple-play subscription, and 65 percent had broadband of at least 20Mbps. The company warned for slower growth in cash flow in Q3, due to a difficult comparison with the year-earlier period, especially Switzerland, and changes in marketing spend.
