Liberty Global reports Q3 2024 results

Liberty Global today announced its Q2 2024 financial results.

CEO Mike Fries stated: "It was a solid quarter for our telco business operationally with sequential improvement across all markets in aggregate mobile postpaid and broadband net adds in Q3, as we begin seeing the benefits of the AI and digital tools that we're deploying to enhance the customer experience. Our fiber deployments are scaling effectively as we ramp our nexfibre and Fibre Up efforts in the U.K. along with Wyre's FTTH build across Flanders. Meanwhile, we continue making significant progress on the strategies we've undertaken to unlock shareholder value.

The 100% spin-off of Sunrise has been confirmed for November 12th, only nine months after announcement. We've injected $1.4 billion of capital into Sunrise which, together with Adj FCF generated at Sunrise, will achieve $1.7 billion of total deleveraging by year-end. We anticipate a CHF 240 million dividend to be paid by Sunrise in mid-2025, followed by a progressive annual dividend policy thereafter.

In terms of our Liberty Growth portfolio (previously referred to as Ventures), we will continue rotating capital out of low-growth businesses into new opportunities with secular tailwinds and scale-driven characteristics. Following a further divestment of our U.K. tower business (CTIL), as well as monetizations of our Pax8 and EdgeConnex technology investments, we expect to realize ~$900 million2 in total asset proceeds from the transactions we've announced over the last twelve months, near the top end of our $500 million to $1 billion target range.

In October we increased our stake in Formula E to 66% and will begin consolidating the world's fastest growing motorsport from Q4. In early October, VodafoneZiggo successfully completed a proactive refinancing of its 2027 maturities; our telecom businesses have no material debt repayments until 2028, and the average life of our debt stands at ~5 years3 . At September 30, we had $3.5 billion(i) of cash on our balance sheet, which is 1 expected to be ~$2 billion at year end, after the $1.4 billion capital injection into Sunrise.

In addition to the fast-approaching Sunrise spin, 2024 will prove to be an exceptional year for returns to Liberty Global shareholders, as we've also acquired ~8% of our outstanding shares through October 25 against our 10% target by year-end. Our strategic focus going forward will remain squarely on unlocking the underlying value of our substantial asset base."

Read the full release.