Liberty Global has reported that it “achieved all full-year guidance targets” at Telenet and Virgin Media O2 in the quarter ended December 31st 2024, while VodafoneZiggo “delivered stable revenue and met all other metrics”.

The company reported consolidated earnings from continuing operations of $2.33 billion (€2.23bn) for Q4, reversing a loss of $3.36 billion in the prior year. Q4 consolidated revenue increased 9.7 per cent YoY to $1.12 billion.

Liberty Global CEO, Mike Fries, commented “In 2024 we successfully managed through what continues to be a challenging competitive environment, including difficult prior year comparisons in Q4, to achieve all full-year guidance metrics across our Liberty Telecom businesses, with the exception of the stable revenue result at VodafoneZiggo. Fixed ARPU grew across all of our core Liberty Telecom assets during both the quarter and the full year, and in Belgium and the UK we delivered growth in broadband net adds for Q4. We’re well-positioned to defend and grow market share, with our main brands underpinning value in premium segments and our flanker brands driving growth in low-cost segments, all underpinned by customer centricity, digital and AI initiatives, and our next-generation networks.”

“We continue to invest in our fibre-rich networks, with FTTH programs ramping across the UK, Belgium, and Ireland. In the UK, we now reach 6.4 million premises with fibre, and preparations for a fixed NetCo are progressing on track with a perimeter now defined. In Belgium, our fibre sharing agreement with Proximus is pending regulatory approval, and we’ve successfully secured commitments for a standalone €500 million capex facility for our NetCo in that market called Wyre. In mobile, VMO2 continues to advance its 5G network, with outdoor coverage now reaching 75 per cent of the UK, and further improvements to be underpinned by the acquisition of spectrum from Vodafone-Three, which is expected to occur later this year.”

“During the quarter, we successfully increased our stake in Formula E to 66 per cent. As a global championship with ~400 million racing fans, the business is on an impressive trajectory, and with our control position we’re excited to unlock its future growth potential. Elsewhere in our Liberty Growth portfolio, we continue rotating capital into scale-based businesses with unique opportunities to create value. Our top seven investments now account for 75 per cent of the portfolio’s FMV, and following the ~$900 million in proceeds from non-core asset disposals since October 2023, we’re targeting a further $500 million to $750 million in 2025.

“Our balance sheet remains strong, with over $2.2 billion of consolidated cash, an average long-term debt tenor of ~5 years, and no material debt repayments until 2028. The year-end cash balance reflects the $1.6 billion capital injection into Sunrise ahead of its November spin, funded by less than $1 billion of corporate cash, ~$420 million from the sale of our stake in All3Media, and Sunrise Adj FCF. Dividend distributions of ~$600 million were received from VMO2 and VodafoneZiggo during Q4. 2024 was a record year for shareholder remuneration at Liberty Global. In November we successfully distributed 100 per cent of the shares of our Swiss subsidiary Sunrise to shareholders, resulting in a CHF 3 billion tax-free dividend. The combined trading performance of both LBTY and Sunrise has demonstrated the inherent value embedded in our telco businesses, with Sunrise now trading at nearly 8x Adj EBITDA (versus 5.5x for Liberty Global). On top of this, we completed a ~$700 million buyback programme to repurchase ~10 per cent of our shares during the year, ending with ~349 million shares outstanding.”

“In 2025 we remain laser-focused on unlocking further value for shareholders. We’ll continue to position our Liberty Telecom assets for opportunistic transactions that crystallise and, in time, distribute value to shareholders. We will focus on the inherent value of our fixed networks and, specifically, seek to raise capital for our fibre NetCos in Belgium and the UK. Finally, we continue to see compelling value in our
stock and we’re announcing today a buyback program of up to 10 per cent of shares outstanding in 2025,” Fries concluded.

VMO2

VMO2 ended the year with another quarter of fixed customer growth, delivering net adds of 9,900 and fixed ARPU growth of 2 per cent. Growth in the customer base was attributed to improved performance on the nexfibre footprint, where quarterly net additions increased sequentially through the year, supported by build momentum and investment in sales and marketing. Positive growth in fixed ARPU continued, with a 2 per cent increase YoY. In mobile, postpaid performance continued to improve through the year and returned to growth in Q4, with 15,600 net additions during the quarter.

VMO2 achieved record footprint expansion in 2024, growing its reach by an additional 1.3 million homes serviceable, and bringing the total gigabit footprint to 18.3 million homes at the end of the year. Expansion was primarily through build on behalf of nexfibre, including the transfer of Upp premises following the successful integration of the altnet. Meanwhile, the upgrade of VMO2’s existing fixed network to fibre also continued apace across the year, with a total fibre footprint of 6.4 million premises when including the nexfibre footprint. Significant progress was also made in the evolution of VMO2’smobile network to 5G, with US outdoor population coverage standing at 75 per cent at the end of 2024.

Revenue stood at $3.4 billion in Q4 2024, down 1.1 per cent YoY on a reported basis and 4 per cent YoY on a rebased basis.

Telenet

During Q4, Telenet delivered a return to positive broadband net adds of 3,200, supported by the nationwide launch of the BASE FMC offer in June 2024. Since launching, BASE has sold over 25,000 broadband subscriptions. In mobile, the postpaid base declined by 1,800. FMC households increased by 12,200 to reach 861,000, Telenet’s best quarterly performance in two years.

Revenue were at $781.5 million in Q4, down 1.4 per cent YoY on a reported basisand 0.4 per cent on a rebased basis.

VodafoneZiggo

During Q4, mobile postpaid net adds grew by 800 at VodafoneZiggo. The broadband base contracted by 30,200 in the quarter amidst the continued promotional intensity in the market, as a 36,000 decline in Consumer was only partially offset by a 5,800 increase in B2B. Fixed ARPU growth in the quarter was supported by the fixed price indexation in July. In mobile, postpaid ARPU declined by 2.3 per cent. FMC8 households grew by 1,700 during the quarter to reach 1.5 million at year end.

Revenue decreased 3.4 per cent YoY on a reported basis and 2.5 per cent YoY on a rebased basis to $1.11 billion in Q4.

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Categories: Articles, Business, Results, Telco

Tags: Liberty Global, Mike Fries, telenet, Virgin Media O2, VodafoneZiggo