Liberty Global’s LBTYA profit from continuing operations in the fourth quarter of 2024 amounted to $2,334.2 million. The company had incurred a loss of $3,363.6 million in the year-ago quarter.

Revenues increased 9.7% year over year to $1,123.2 million. On a rebased basis, revenues rose 7.7% year over year.

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Top-Line Details

Total average revenue per unit (ARPU) per fixed customer relationship increased 1% year over year to $64.47. On a rebased basis, the figure increased 2%.

Mobile ARPU (including interconnect revenues), on a reported basis, decreased 2.8% to $18.16. On a rebased basis, the figure dropped 1.8%. 

Mobile ARPU (excluding interconnect revenues), on a reported basis, remained unchanged at $16.83.

As of Dec. 31, 2024, the mobile subscriber count included approximately 195,100 prepaid mobile subscribers from Telenet in Belgium, 7,369,800 from the VMO2 Joint Venture (JV) and 284,500 from the VodafoneZiggo JV.

In total, Liberty Global lost 8,800 customer relationships in the fourth quarter compared with a loss of 17,400 in the year-ago quarter.

On a reported basis, Belgium's revenues decreased 1.4% year over year to $781.5 million.

In Belgium, Liberty Global lost 4,600 customer relationships compared with a loss of 12,600 in the year-ago quarter.

On a reported basis, Ireland's revenues declined 3.8% to $128.6 million.

The company lost 1,900 customer relationships in Ireland compared with a loss of 3,900 in the year-ago quarter.

Liberty Growth, on a reported basis, climbed 118% to $35.1 million.

In Slovakia, Liberty Global lost 2,300 customer relationships compared with a loss of 900 in the year-ago quarter.

Joint Venture Details

Telenet revenues of $781.5 million decreased 1.4% year over year on a reported basis and 0.4% on a rebased basis. The rebased decrease was primarily due to a decline in the customer base, though it was partially offset by the 3.5% price increase and the ongoing transition toward higher-tier broadband plans.

Liberty Global’s non-consolidated joint venture, Virgin Media O2, reported revenues of $3,478.8 million, which decreased 1.1% year over year on a reported basis and 4% on a rebased basis. The rebased decrease was primarily due to the net effect of a decline in both mobile revenues due to lower handset sales and revenues in B2B operations as well as an increase in residential fixed revenue.

The fixed customer base increased 9,900 in the reported quarter, due to improved performance on the nextfibre footprint. As a result of building momentum and investment in sales and marketing, quarterly net additions increased sequentially through the year.

VodafoneZiggo revenues dropped 3.4% on a reported basis and decreased 2.5% on a rebased basis to $1,113.8 million. The rebased decrease was primarily due to a decline in low-margin handset sales and in the consumer-fixed customer base.

FMC broadband households grew by 1,700. 

Mobile postpaid net adds increased by 800. The broadband base contracted by 30,200 in the quarter amid the intensity of continued promotion in the market.

Operating Details

Adjusted EBITDA increased 3.4% year over year to $247.8 million in the fourth quarter. On a rebased basis, EBITDA increased 3.2%.

Telenet’s EBITDA, on a rebased basis, decreased 3.9% year over year.

VM Ireland’s EBITDA, on a rebased basis, increased 10.6% year over year.

The company reported an operating loss of $48.2 million in the reported quarter compared with an operating loss of $172.5 million in the year-ago quarter.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow

As of Dec. 31, 2024, Liberty Global had $3 billion in cash, investments under SMAs, and unused borrowing capacity, including $0.7 billion in corporate cash and no material debt maturities until 2030. This compares with $5 billion of cash, investments under SMAs and unused borrowing capacity in the previous quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the total principal amount of debt and finance leases was $9.2 billion for continuing operations compared with $16 billion in the previous quarter. The average debt tenor is 4.1 years, with approximately 10% not due until 2030 or later.

Cash provided by operating activities was $667.1 million, up 27.8% year over year.

The adjusted free cash flow was $324.2 million in the fourth quarter against the adjusted free cash flow of $91.1 million in the previous quarter. The adjusted free cash flow in the year-ago quarter was $258.2 million.

Key Developments

On Nov. 9, 2024, Liberty Global announced the spin-off of its Swiss Business, Sunrise, into a separate publicly traded company. It will continue to own and operate its Telecom business in Belgium, Ireland, Slovakia, the U.K. and the Netherlands.

On Nov. 5, 2024, Liberty Global’s Virgin Media O2 started a Small Business Partnerships project with top brands like Virgin StartUp, egg and GoDaddy. The goal of this program is to provide U.K. entrepreneurs the networks, resources and technology they need to be successful.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Currently, Liberty Global carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Computer & Technology sector are BWX Technologies BWXT, Akamai Technologies AKAM and Bandwidth BAND. BWX Technologies, Akamai Technologies and Bandwidth carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

BWX Technologies is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter 2024 result on Feb. 24, while Akamai Technologies and Bandwidth are scheduled to report their respective fourth-quarter 2024 results on Feb. 20.

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