Liberty Latin America Reports Third Quarter 2018 Results

07 Nov 2018 in

 

Liberty Latin America Reports Third Quarter 2018 Results

  • Delivered Rebased Revenue Growth of 3% Led by Chile & Puerto Rico
  • Added 42,000 RGUs, Fueled by Robust Broadband Gains
  • Expanded Footprint with > 260,000 New / Upgraded Homes YTD
  • Completed Acquisitions of Cabletica and LCPR Minority in October

Denver, Colorado – November 7, 2019: Liberty Latin America Ltd. ("Liberty Latin America" or "LLA") (NASDAQ: LILA and LILAK, OTC Link: LILAB) today announced its financial and operating results for the three months ("Q3") and nine months ("YTD") ended September 30, 2018.

CEO Balan Nair commented, "In Q3, we returned to rebased revenue growth driven by our high-speed broadband strategy across LLAand strong growth in Puerto Rico."

"Our fixed performance was led by 25,000 customer additions during the quarter as we strive to satisfy the significant demand in our markets for high-speed connectivity while typically bundling this lead product with our attractive video offering. We continue to invest in upgrading and expanding our networks with approximately 100,000 premises added in the quarter and we see potential to further upgrade and grow our footprint, generating healthy returns."

"In mobile, we are focused on driving LTE penetration across the group with growth of over 50% year-over-year, however, this still only represents a third of our total subscriber base. At C&W, we recently launched our exciting new "Moments that Matter" advertising campaign in Panama with refreshed offers that are generating positive early results."

"In addition to organic growth, expansion and consolidation in the region remain key elements of the value creation opportunity we see for our stakeholders. In that regard, I'm pleased that we have completed the acquisition of Cabletica, a leading Costa Rican cable operator, as well as the free cash flow accretive purchase of the remaining 40% stake in Liberty Puerto Rico from Searchlight Capital Partners. Expanding our operations through strategic acquisitions provides greater opportunities to leverage digital transformation, delivering improved customer experiences, and achieving cost benefits through additional scale."

"As we grow our business, ensuring that we have ample liquidity and a well hedged capital structure with long-dated maturities is one of our core focus areas. Approximately 90% of our debt is due in 2022 or later and our average tenor is over 5 years."

"In conclusion, we are starting to build operating momentum across LLA and remain convinced of the opportunities to create sustainable growth and drive meaningful free cash flow generation in the years ahead. For 2018, we remain on-track with our guidance1 targets and expect to report a strong fourth quarter in terms of rebased growth, as we will compare favorably against our Q4 2017 hurricane impacted financial results."