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Dec 31, 2021
Liberty Global Q4 2021 Earnings Report
Liberty Global's Q4 2021 financial results demonstrated continued commercial momentum and the company delivered 306,000 aggregate broadband and postpaid mobile subscribers during the quarter.
Key Takeaways
Liberty Global announced its Q4 2021 financial results, demonstrating continued commercial momentum. The company delivered 306,000 aggregate broadband and postpaid mobile subscribers during the quarter and exceeded buyback guidance with $1.6 billion of repurchases in 2021.
Achieved all 2021 guidance targets including increased Adjusted Free Cash Flow.
Stable to growing revenue across the group with momentum into 2022 driven by strong aggregate broadband and postpaid mobile growth
FMC penetration continues to rise with clear churn and NPS benefits; cross-sell opportunities into 2022 with VOLT, Sunrise We, and Telenet One
Value of Ventures increased to $3.5 billion or ~$6.70 per share at year end
Liberty Global
Liberty Global
Forward Guidance
Liberty Global expects to continue growing Distributable Cash Flow to $1.7 billion in 2022, an increase of 22% over 2021.
Positive Outlook
- Expected to deliver mid-single-digit growth in Adjusted EBITDA (as defined and reported by the VMO2 JV), supported by improved top-line growth and the delivery of synergies, which will ramp through the year.
- Cash distribution to shareholders is anticipated to be £1.6 billion, including cash from recapitalizations to maintain leverage at the upper-end of the 4-5x range.
- Expect to continue growing Distributable Cash Flow to $1.7 billion6 in 2022, an increase of 22% over 2021, supported by shareholder distributions from our joint ventures in the U.K and the Netherlands, as well as an expected recapitalization of Virgin Media O2 later in the year as management further executes on its synergy plan.
- The company’s financing strategy is linked to its ESG “People, Planet, Progress” objective of reducing CO2 emissions throughout the entire chain (Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions) by 50% by 2025 (vs 2018).
- We continue to believe our shares offer very strong value at current prices and in our robust share buyback program we repurchased $1.6 billion of our shares in 2021, exceeding market expectations and buying back 10% of our shares by year end.
Challenges Ahead
- Expected opex and capex costs to capture of over £300 million and P&E additions of around £2.1 billion as the company accelerates network investments.
- This growth is expected despite our forecast for peak Costs to Capture7 spend in both the U.K and Switzerland this year, as well as elevated capital expenditures in Belgium and the Netherlands related to network capacity.
- Our efforts have delivered a number of accomplishments across the business and here are some notable examples.
- The strategy also highlights “YouBelong!”, the company’s framework supporting diversity, equity and inclusion.
- Lastly, Liberty Global Ventures has recently launched a renewable energy brand, Egg, offering a range of clean technology solutions, including subscription-based electric vehicle charging for homes and businesses.