Liberty Latin America Reports First Quarter 2018 Results
- RGU Additions of 33,000 Driven by Broadband and Video
- Delivered Strong Rebased OCF Growth at Cable & Wireless and VTR
- Substantial Quarterly Improvement in Puerto Rico from Q4 2017
- Expanded / Upgraded our Network with over 80,000 Homes Added
- Guidance for 2018 Remains On-Track
Denver, Colorado – May 8, 2018: Liberty Latin America Ltd. ("Liberty Latin America") (NASDAQ: LILA and LILAK, OTC Link: LILAB) today announced its financial and operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2018 ("Q1").
CEO Balan Nair stated, "We had a solid start to the year in our first quarter as a separately listed company. Robust operational momentum generated rebased OCF growth at VTR and at C&W, where we grew rebased OCF by 7% and had our second best fixed-line quarter for RGU additions since acquiring the business. In Puerto Rico, our team has continued to work tirelessly to rebuild the network, which is now mostly complete and contributed to our solid sequential step-up in revenue and OCF. Today, we are approaching 600,000 billable RGUs, our sales are back at pre-hurricane levels and nearly all of our B2B customers are connected. We expect that our performance in Puerto Rico will continue to improve throughout the year."
"Importantly, we remain focused on creating a leading experience for our customers, and during the quarter we launched a number of innovative products, such as Replay TV in Chile. This advanced feature is a boost to the video experience, enabling our customers to playback up to 7 days of programming across nearly 60 channels. At C&W, we enhanced our video functionality with the introduction of our Flow Evo video platform, and added new content with the launch of our own Flow Sports 2 channel across the Caribbean. In Puerto Rico, we are driving the best fixed-line connectivity and entertainment offering on the island, with our lead bundle offering customers broadband speeds of 100 Mbps."
"We continue to strengthen the capability and reach of our fixed networks, and have hit the ground running in Q1, remaining on-track to deliver over 250,000 new or upgraded homes in 2018. In addition to developing our fixed footprint, we are focusing on mobile investments across our markets. Our objective is to be the LTE leader, which will position us to capitalize on growth in data demand and convergence."
"In addition to our organic growth potential, we remain convinced of the significant consolidation opportunity across our region where we can leverage our growing scale to drive synergies and improve operating performance. Our first step in executing this strategy came with the announced acquisition of Cabletica in Costa Rica, which we anticipate completing later this summer."
"Overall, we are pleased with Q1 and remain on-track with our 2018 guidance1 targets. Our new leadership team is now firmly established and we are excited about the opportunities to create a platform for sustainable future growth and free cash flow development."