Cable operator Liberty Global added 370,000 revenue-generating units in the first quarter, for a total 48.64 million at the end of March. The company gained 345,000 RGUs on an organic basis, and the remainder came from small acquisitions in the UK and Austria. The total included 239,000 new broadband customers and 177,000 more telephony subscribers, offsetting a loss of 71,000 TV customers. The customer base was down by a net 6,000 in the three months, to 24.50 million.
Liberty Global said it passed the 10 million triple-play customers mark during the quarter, ending Q1 with 57 percent of its customers on a bundled offer. The company also highlighted sales of its advanced TV boxes, Horizon and Tivo, which added 250,000 subscribers in Q1 to reach 550,000 Horizon users and 2.1 million Tivo customers. ARPU was USD 49.08 for the quarter, up 27 percent year-on-year thanks to the takeover of Virgin Media.
The acquisition helped revenues increase to USD 4.5 billion from USD 2.7 billion a year ago. On a pro forma basis and excluding currency effects, revenues were up 2 percent, including 2 percent growth in west Europe, a 1 percent decline in east Europe and 5 percent growth in Chile. The result was helped by expansion in digital services, price increases and USD 11 million from a settlement of network usage fees.
Operating cash flow was up 69 percent year-on-year to USD 2.1 billion, equal to 8 percent growth on a pro forma basis. Operating profit rose 10 percent to USD 582 million, while the net loss widened to USD 79 million from USD 1 million, due to increased depreciation, stock option and restructuring charges as well as losses on derivatives.
Liberty Global maintained capital expenditure at 20 percent of revenue in the quarter, or USD 910 million. Despite changes to VAT expected to impact results in the UK from May, Liberty said it's on track for growth in annual cash flow. It targets adjusted free cash flow of USD 2.0 billion for the full year, after USD 350 million in Q1. The company said it also plans to launch more MVNO and Wi-Fi services, in line with recent expansions in Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium.
The company still expects to complete its takeover of Dutch operator Ziggo in the second half of this year. Liberty said the European Commission has almost completed its first-phase investigation of the deal, but no decision has been taken yet. The company expects to launch the public bid in about a month.
