Ziggo : Results Q3 2012

Balanced growth of revenue and EBITDA Strong EBITDA growth in period of planned low summer marketing Utrecht, October 19, 2012 Operational highlights Q3 2012 ·      All-in-1 bundle subscribers up 20,000 or 1.5% q-o-q and 148,000 or 12.1% y-o-y; penetration 48.6% of our consumer customer base ·      Internet subscribers up 16,000 in Q3 and 107,000 or 6...

 

Balanced growth of revenue and EBITDA

Strong EBITDA growth in period of planned low summer marketing

Utrecht, October 19, 2012

Operational highlights Q3 2012

·      All-in-1 bundle subscribers up 20,000 or 1.5% q-o-q and 148,000 or 12.1% y-o-y; penetration 48.6% of our consumer customer base

·      Internet subscribers up 16,000 in Q3 and 107,000 or 6.5% y-o-y, driven by the sale of All-in-1 bundles and business bundles

·      Limited y-o-y growth in telephony usage due to FTA rates reduction, lower call minutes per subscriber and growing relevance of free on-net calling and flat-fee subscriptions

·      Continued growth in digital pay TV driven by an increase in the number of premium packages per subscriber and a strong y-o-y growth in VOD transactions by over 140%

·      Continued double-digit revenue growth in B2B with almost 3,000 new business bundles

·      Marketing activities at a planned lower summer level; new All-in-1 bundle campaigns started in September with a focus on the fourth quarter

 

Financial highlights Q3 2012

·      Revenues EUR380.1 million, up 1.2% y-o-y; up 4.4% excluding other revenue

·      Adjusted EBITDA EUR227.0 million, up 8.1% y-o-y

·      Net result increased to EUR72.4 million from a net loss of EUR1.3 million in Q3 2011

·      Net debt amounts to EUR2.98 billion compared to EUR3.23 billion at year-end 2011

·      Leverage ratio down to 3.41x compared to 3.87x at year-end 2011 and 3.98x at September 30, 2011

 

CEO Bernard Dijkhuizen commented:

"In the third quarter Ziggo reported balanced growth in revenue and EBITDA. As marketing activities during the summer period tend to be less effective, we reduced our efforts during the third quarter and started an All-in-1 bundle campaign in September with an emphasis on the fourth quarter. At the same time, we saw an increase in competition which, in combination with lower marketing efforts, has resulted in a more moderate growth of our All-in-1 bundle subscriptions. Additionally, we have seen a continuation of the downward trend in ARPU from telephony usage, enhanced by a reduction of Dutch FTA rates. Growth in revenues in combination with lower marketing costs and a lower spend on promotional offers for set-top boxes have resulted in a strong increase in our EBITDA margin.

 

We continue to focus on the development of new services. In September for instance, we supported our 'TV Everywhere' strategy with the launch of our TV app for Android tablets followed by an increase in the number of live streaming digital TV channels from 14 to 28 through our TV app. Furthermore, we launched Ziggo Music, our streaming music service that currently includes around 14 million titles.

 

An important step ­this quarter was the pilot of our WiFi HomeZone in an area in Groningen. Although final conclusions of this pilot are due later this year, customer feedback and preliminary results are positive and give us valuable new insights into consumer behavior and technical feasibility that will benefit our convergence strategy for the coming years.

 

Finally, I would like to mention the inclusion of our stock in the AMX Dutch midcap index of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange of NYSE Euronext. This will help enhance the visibility of our shares and improve liquidity. The second sell down by our shareholders Cinven and Warburg Pincus of approximately

16% in early August also positively affected the liquidity in our shares. Today our free float is around 41%."

 

 

Outlook

Based on our performance in the first nine months of 2012 as well as the continued investments in our network and customer base, we are on track to continue to increase our market share and grow our revenue. Excluding telephony usage, where we expect a continuation of the downward trend, we expect revenue from our core business to develop in line with our plans for the full year 2012. In view of the market environment that has become more competitive over the summer period, subscriber acquisition costs are expected to increase. Based on the above expectations we are confident to meet the current EBITDA consensus for the full year 2012.

 

Capital expenditure for 2012 is expected to be in the range of EUR270 to EUR280 million, slightly below our previous guidance of approximately EUR280 million.

 

Important dates

Next year, Ziggo expects to publish its quarterly results on the following dates:

FY and Q4 2012           January 24, 2013

Q1 2013                      April 17, 2013

Q2 2013                      July 18, 2013

Q3 2013                      October 18, 2013

 

The Annual General Meeting of Shareholders will be held on April 18, 2013.

 

As communicated earlier, we intend to distribute a total dividend of EUR220 million for 2012, distributed in two equal semi-annual installments. With the interim dividend of EUR110 million distributed on September 11, 2012, we intend to distribute the final dividend of EUR110 million in April 2013, subject to our 2012 results and shareholder approval. Relevant dates for distribution of the final dividend are as follows:

 

April 18, 2013  AGM and final declaration of dividend

April 22, 2013  Ex-dividend (at opening)

April 24, 2013  Record date (after close)

April 29, 2013  Payment date

Copyright Thomson Reuters

Attachment(s)
http://hugin.info/153077/R/1650578/532305.pdf

Regulatory News
This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson Reuters clients.

The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.

Source: %s via Thomson Reuters ONE


[HUG#1650578]