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 maria.armental@wsj.com
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