Liberty Global's Customer Growth Slows, Loss Widens

   By Maria Armental 
 

Liberty Global PLC's (LBTYA) first-quarter loss widened as the 2014 results had been bolstered by the sale of its Chellomedia international content division to AMC Networks Inc.

The cable conglomerate, meanwhile, reported customer growth slowed sharply in the first quarter as the cable conglomerate recorded higher cancellations in its video division. But Liberty Global said customer growth was back on track in April and it expects to add more than a million subscribers, excluding cancellations, this year.

The London company said it added a net 68,000 subscribers during the first three months of the year, compared with 345,000 in the year-ago period, as broadband gains helped offset the video losses.

As of March 31, the company said it had 56 million individual subscribers, with about 61% of customers subscribing to more than one service. On mobile, it added 41,000 customers, ending the quarter with 4.6 million customers.

Spun off from Liberty Media Corp., Liberty Global is media mogul John Malone's international cable holding company with operations in 14 countries.

The London company has been shifting focus to Europe, with a series of large acquisitions, including U.K.'s Virgin Media Inc. and Dutch cable operator Ziggo NV, seeking to profit from rising demand for bundles of television, broadband and telephone and mobile services. Last month, Belgian subsidiary Telenet Group said it planned to buy the third largest wireless operator in that country, Base Company, marking a policy change at Liberty Media, which had long skirted mobile, offering wireless service through other companies' networks instead.

Overall, Liberty Global reported a loss of $537.5 million, or 61 cents a share, compared with a loss of $78.8 million, or 10 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue edged down 0.37% to $4.52 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had projected a loss of three cents a share on $4.56 billion in revenue.

Shares, up 22% over the past 12 months, closed Thursday at $52.10.

Write to Maria Armental at [e-mail]

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires