Liberty Global this week reported flat second quarter revenue due to currency fluctuations, while a poor performance at its Netherlands business took the sheen off some otherwise strong operational results.
Revenue for the three months ended 30 June edged down 0.8% year-on-year to US$4.6 billion. On a constant currency basis, revenue would have grown 3.3%.
Operating expenses were flat at $3.9 billion, resulting in an operating profit of $624.9 million, down from $669.5 million a year ago. Net loss widened to $409.9 million from $241.2 million as income tax expenses and derivative losses offset foreign currency gains.
The picture was rosier on the operational side, as Liberty Global added 138,000 revenue generating units (RGUs) during Q2, leaving it with 56.3 million across its European and Latin American footprint, up from 48.9 million at the end of Q2 2014.
With each Liberty Global customer subscribing on average to around two services, that meant the company had 27.4 million customer relationships at the end of June, up from 24.5 million a year ago.
Liberty Global’s European operations performed strongly for the most part, as RGUs increased by 115,000 dur ing Q2, driven by organic additions of 92,000 and small in-market acquisitions in Romania.
The notable exception was the Netherlands, where RGUs at its Ziggo unit fell by 87,000.
"We experienced both lower sales and higher churn in the Dutch market, due in part to continued operational challenges associated with our network and product harmonisation and integration work," said Liberty Global, in a statement, adding that intense competition also took its toll on the business.
