Liberty Global Loss Widens on Investment, Foreign Currency Impact

   By Maria Armental 
 

Liberty Global PLC's loss widened sharply in the fourth quarter, largely due to investment and foreign currency losses on the stronger dollar.

Spun off from Liberty Media Corp., media mogul John Malone's Liberty Global is the largest international cable 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.

Liberty Global raised its synergy target from the Ziggo acquisition to 250 million euros ($285 million) by 2018.

In the latest period, Liberty Global added 351,000 subscribers, led by broadband additions and a lower attrition rate in its video operations, the company said. At year end, the company said, just over 60% of its customers were subscribed to more than one service.

Meanwhile, it provided 55.9 million subscription services, a 16% increase form the year-ago period, fuelled largely by the Ziggo acquisition.

Overall, Liberty Global reported a loss of $523.4 million, or 62 cents a share, compared with a $121.2 million loss, or 16 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 3.29% to $4.62 billion, in line with the consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Shares closed at 49.79 on Thursday, up 16% over the past 12 months.

Write to Maria Armental at [e-mail]

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