Liberty Global (LBTYA) Q3 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Sunrise spin-off approved with 99% shareholder support, scheduled for November 12, including CHF 1.5 billion debt paydown, $1.4 billion capital injection, and a progressive dividend policy; equity value estimated at $4.2 billion.

• Asset sales over the past 12 months totaled $900 million, including All3Media, VMO2 tower portfolio, EdgeConneX, Pax8, and CTIL, with proceeds used for debt paydown and reinvestment; Liberty Growth portfolio valued at $3 billion.

• Share buybacks on track to reach 10% of outstanding shares in 2024, with $700 million expected to be returned to shareholders, and 8% already repurchased YTD.

• Post-Sunrise, Liberty Telecom will retain over 80 million mobile and broadband connections, $22 billion in revenue, and $8 billion in adjusted EBITDA.

• Net loss attributable to shareholders was $1.43 billion for Q3 2024, mainly due to non-operating losses on derivatives and FX, despite revenue growth of 4.4% to $1.94 billion and adjusted EBITDA up 11.8% to $668 million.

Financial highlights

• Q3 2024 revenue increased 4.4% year-over-year to $1.94 billion (reported), with rebased growth of 2.6%; adjusted EBITDA rose 11.8% to $668 million (margin 34.5%).

• Sunrise Q3 revenue was $866 million (+0.7% YoY), adjusted EBITDA $319 million (margin 36.8%); Telenet Q3 revenue $785 million (+1.3%), adjusted EBITDA $361 million (margin 46.0%).

• VMO2 JV Q3 revenue $3.51 billion, adjusted EBITDA $1.17 billion; VodafoneZiggo JV Q3 revenue $1.13 billion, adjusted EBITDA $528 million.

• Cash flow from operations for nine months was $1.24 billion; adjusted free cash flow for Q3 was $91.1 million.

• Consolidated cash balance at $3.5 billion at Q3 end, with total liquidity of $5.0 billion including unused borrowing capacity.

Outlook and guidance

• All 2024 guidance metrics reiterated, including Sunrise's refined adjusted free cash flow guidance of CHF 360–370 million.

• Telenet targets stable revenue and mid-single-digit EBITDAAL decline; VMO2 expects low to mid-single-digit revenue and EBITDA decline (excl. nexfibre); VodafoneZiggo projects continued revenue and low single-digit EBITDA growth.

• Management remains focused on unlocking value through asset distribution, spinoffs, and strategic transactions, with a post-Sunrise focus on telecom assets and capital rotation.