Liberty Global Reports Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2018 Results

Announced the sale of UPC Switzerland for a total enterprise value of
CHF 6.3 billion¹ ($6.3 billion²)

Vodafone transaction remains on track for mid-2019 completion

FY 2018 continuing operations operating income up 10% to $839
million; rebased OCF growth of 3.5% and 4.3% for Full Company³

Achieved all continuing operations full-year 2018 guidance

Full company³ FCF target achieved

Repurchased $2 billion of stock in 2018

DENVER, Colorado–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Liberty Global (NASDAQ: LBTYA, LBTYB and LBTYK):


	Full Year	Q4
Net Adds	30K	(33K)
Revenue Growth⁷	2.2%	1.2%
OCF Growth⁷	3.5%	2.9%

	Full Year	Q4
Net Adds	366K	104K
Revenue Growth⁷	5.4%	3.8%
OCF Growth⁷	6.1%	4.8%


	Full Year	Q4
OCF Growth⁷	4.3%	3.4%
Adj. FCF (As reported)	$1.4 bn	$1.4 bn
Adj. FCF (Guidance FX)⁸	$1.6 bn

Liberty Global plc today announced its three months (“Q4”) and full
year (“FY”) 2018 financial results. Our operations in Germany, Hungary,
Romania and the Czech Republic, along with our DTH operations and our
former operations in Austria (collectively, the “Discontinued European
Operations”) and the former LiLAC Group have been accounted for as
discontinued operations. Unless otherwise indicated, the information in
this release relates only to our continuing operations. As used in this
release, the term “Full Company” includes our continuing operations and
the Discontinued European Operations. For additional information,
including the reasons that we present selected information on a Full
Company basis, see note 3. In addition, on January 1, 2018, we adopted
new revenue recognition rules on a prospective basis and a new
presentation of certain components of our pension expense on a
retrospective basis. All information in this release is presented on a
comparable basis with respect to both of these accounting changes. For
additional information concerning our discontinued operations and these
accounting changes, see notes 4 and 5.

CEO Mike Fries stated, “The past fourteen months have been
transformational for Liberty Global. After two decades of buying,
building and growing world-class cable operations in Europe, we have
announced or completed transactions in six of our twelve markets at
premium valuations. Together these deals represent an aggregate
enterprise value of $31 billion and net cash proceeds to the company,
when completed, of $16 billion⁶. It has long been our
ambition to create or enable national champions, and we couldn’t be more
proud of these fixed-mobile combinations, which will challenge
incumbents, accelerate innovation and benefit customers for years to
come.

“After these transactions, in addition to a significant cash balance, a
$2 billion⁹ strategic investment portfolio and over $2
billion in net tax assets, we will continue to be the largest cable
operator in the U.K., Ireland, Belgium, Poland and Slovakia. Together
our operations serve 23 million RGUs and generate $11 billion of annual
revenue. We also serve another 10 million RGUs and generate over $4
billion of annual revenue in The Netherlands through our 50/50 JV with
Vodafone. Each of these businesses is entering a new period of reduced
capital intensity and meaningful operating free cash flow (“OFCF”)
growth.

“Also, in connection with the changing scope of our business, we
initiated a broader reorganization plan in January, which will result in
a leaner operating structure. As we move through the year, we will have
further updates on this initiative.

“We will be hosting an earnings call this afternoon at 5:00 p.m. EST to
discuss our 2018 results, the just announced UPC Switzerland transaction
and our 2019 financial guidance. We hope you can join us.”

About Liberty Global

Liberty Global (NASDAQ: LBTYA, LBTYB and LBTYK) is the world’s largest
international TV and broadband company, with operations in 10 European
countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Unitymedia, Telenet
and UPC. We invest in the infrastructure and digital platforms that
empower our customers to make the most of the video, internet and
communications revolution. Our substantial scale and commitment to
innovation enable us to develop market-leading products delivered
through next-generation networks that connect 21 million customers
subscribing to 45 million TV, broadband internet and telephony services.
We also serve 6 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service
through 12 million access points across our footprint.*

In addition, Liberty Global owns 50% of VodafoneZiggo, a joint venture
in the Netherlands with 4 million customers subscribing to 10 million
fixed-line and 5 million mobile services, as well as significant
investments in ITV, All3Media, ITI Neovision, LionsGate, the Formula E
racing series and several regional sports networks.

________________________________________________________________________________

* The figures included in this paragraph include both the continuing
and discontinued operations that we owned on December 31, 2018

Full Year and Q4 Highlights (on a continuing
operations basis unless otherwise noted)

FY and Q4 rebased revenue up 2.2% and 1.2%, respectively
- Q4 residential cable revenue¹⁰ decreased 0.5%
  year-over-year to $1.9 billion
- Q4 residential mobile revenue¹⁰ decreased 4.0%
  year-over-year to $413 million
- Q4 B2B¹¹ revenue¹⁰ increased 7.2%
  year-over-year to $501 million
FY operating income increased 10.3% year-over-year to $839.1 million
- Q4 operating income increased 73.2% year-over-year to $252.2
  million
FY rebased OCF growth was 3.5% to $5.2 billion, including 2.9% growth
in Q4
- FY results supported by strong performances in Belgium and Virgin
  Media
Built 194,000 new premises in Q4
- Virgin Media delivered 144,000 new premises in the U.K. & Ireland
Repurchased $2 billion of stock in 2018
Solid balance sheet with $4.0 billion of liquidity¹²
Net leverage¹³ of 4.8x for the Full Company
Fully-swapped borrowing cost of 4.3%


Liberty Global (continuing operations unless otherwise noted)	Q4 2018			YoY Growth⁽ⁱ⁾		FY 2018			YoY Growth⁽ⁱ⁾

Subscribers
Organic RGU Net Additions (Losses)	(32,500		)			30,000

Financial (in USD millions)
Revenue
Continuing operations	$	2,949.1		1.2	%	$	11,957.9		2.2	%
OCF:
Continuing operations	$	1,301.6		2.9	%	$	5,151.5		3.5	%
Full Company⁽ⁱⁱ⁾				3.4	%				4.3	%
Operating income	$	252.2		73.2	%	$	839.1		10.3	%

Adjusted FCF:
Continuing operations	$	1,077.9				$	107.8
Pro forma continuing operations⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾	$	1,121.8				$	388.7
Full Company	$	1,412.9				$	1,397.2
Cash provided by operating activities	$	1,277.5				$	3,985.0
Cash provided (used) by investing activities	$	(193.8	)			$	601.5
Cash used by financing activities	$	(871.0	)			$	(6,286.6	)

(i)		Revenue and OCF YoY growth rates are on a rebased basis
(ii)		Full Company rebased OCF growth in the Q4 and FY periods includes the net positive impacts of certain German channel carriage settlements of $10.5 million and $47.4 million, respectively
(iii)		Pro forma Adjusted FCF gives pro forma effect to certain increases in our recurring cash flows that we have or expect to realize following the disposition of the Discontinued European Operations. For additional details, see the information and reconciliation included within the Glossary

Subscriber Growth

	Three months ended				Year ended
	December 31,				December 31,
	2018		2017		2018		2017

Organic RGU net additions (losses) by product
Video	(74,900	)	(31,600	)	(160,400	)	(50,100	)
Data	24,800		42,700		98,100		243,800
Voice	17,600		(7,400	)	92,300		66,300
Total	(32,500	)	3,700		30,000		260,000

Organic RGU net additions (losses) by market
U.K./Ireland	23,500		7,700		285,900		336,200
Belgium	(54,400	)	(11,800	)	(154,200	)	(53,700	)
Switzerland	(48,600	)	(22,500	)	(187,600	)	(40,800	)
Continuing CEE (Poland and Slovakia)	47,000		30,300		85,900		18,300
Total	(32,500	)	3,700		30,000		260,000

Organic Mobile SIM additions (losses) by product
Postpaid	68,200		116,500		316,900		357,200
Prepaid	(40,500	)	(23,400	)	(163,400	)	(216,900	)
Total	27,700		93,100		153,500		140,300

Organic Mobile SIM additions by market
U.K./Ireland	17,400		32,800		68,300		12,500
Belgium	1,900		50,800		54,500		94,600
Other	8,400		9,500		30,700		33,200
Total	27,700		93,100		153,500		140,300

Cable Product Performance: During Q4 we
lost 33,000 RGUs, as compared to a gain of 4,000 RGUs in the
prior-year period, as an improved performance in our CEE operations
and at Virgin Media was more than offset by weakness in Belgium and
Switzerland. From a product perspective, video and data adds showed a
year-over-year decrease, while telephony net adds increased
year-over-year
U.K./Ireland: Q4 RGU additions of 23,500
were 3x higher than the prior-year period, driven by success in our
Project Lightning footprint
Belgium: RGU attrition of 54,000 in Q4
was primarily due to intensified competition
Switzerland: Lost 49,000 RGUs in Q4,
compared to a loss of 22,500 in Q4 2017, primarily due to heightened
competition
Continuing CEE (Poland and Slovakia):
Gained 47,000 RGUs in Q4, as compared to 30,000 added in the
prior-year period, mainly driven by stronger video, broadband and
voice adds in Poland
Mobile: Added 28,000 mobile subscribers
in Q4, as 68,000 postpaid additions were partially offset by continued
attrition in our low-ARPU prepaid base
- U.K./Ireland added 17,000 mobile subscribers in Q4 as postpaid
  growth was partially offset by low-ARPU prepaid losses. The
  penetration of 4G at Virgin Media increased to 79% of our postpaid
  base at the end of Q4, and 56% of our mobile base has now migrated
  to our full MVNO platform in the U.K. allowing us to offer more
  converged bundles
- Belgium added 2,000 mobile subscribers during Q4
- Switzerland added 8,500 mobile subscribers in Q4, driven by
  bundling success

Revenue Highlights

The following table presents (i) revenue of each of our consolidated
reportable segments for the comparative periods and (ii) the percentage
change from period to period on both a reported and rebased basis:

	Three months ended						Increase/(decrease)				Year ended						Increase/(decrease)
	December 31,						Increase/(decrease)				December 31,						Increase/(decrease)
Revenue	2018			2017⁵			%		Rebased %		2018			2017⁵			%		Rebased %
	in millions, except % amounts

Continuing operations:
U.K./Ireland	$	1,694.3		$	1,709.6		(0.9	)	2.4		$	6,875.1		$	6,385.8		7.7		3.9
Belgium	733.3			758.1			(3.3	)	(0.7	)	2,993.6			2,861.6			4.6		(1.1	)
Switzerland	325.6			345.5			(5.8	)	(5.1	)	1,326.0			1,366.2			(2.9	)	(3.7	)
Continuing CEE	119.1			125.4			(5.0	)	(0.5	)	492.2			466.5			5.5		1.0
Central and Corporate	76.8			51.6			48.8		22.1		274.2			189.4			44.8		28.8
Intersegment eliminations	—			(6.3		)	N.M.		N.M.		(3.2		)	(14.6		)	N.M.		N.M.
Total continuing operations	$	2,949.1		$	2,983.9		(1.2	)	1.2		$	11,957.9		$	11,254.9		6.2		2.2

Discontinued European Operations⁽ⁱ⁾:
Germany	$	704.8		$	702.0		0.4		3.6		$	2,930.9		$	2,645.7		10.8		5.9
Austria	—			104.3			(100.0	)	—		253.7			396.2			(36.0	)	3.4
Discontinued CEE	191.0			192.2			(0.6	)	4.3		774.6			716.7			8.1		4.3
Intersegment eliminations	(1.1		)	(0.9		)	N.M.		N.M.		(5.4		)	(3.4		)	N.M.		N.M.
Total discontinued European operations	$	894.7		$	997.6		(10.3	)	3.8		$	3,953.8		$	3,755.2		5.3		5.4

N.M. – Not Meaningful

⁽ⁱ⁾ For information concerning our discontinued operations,
see note 4.

Reported revenue for the three months and full year ended December 31,
2018, decreased 1.2% and increased 6.2% year-over-year, respectively
- The full-year results were primarily driven by the impact of (i)
  positive foreign exchange (“FX”) movements, mainly related to the
  strengthening of the British Pound and Euro against the U.S.
  dollar, and (ii) organic revenue growth
Rebased revenue grew 1.2% and 2.2% in the Q4 and full-year 2018
periods, respectively. The result in the full-year period included:
- A $6.4 million headwind from the release of unclaimed customer
  credits in Switzerland in H1 2017
- A $5.6 million headwind from the expected recovery of VAT paid in
  prior periods with respect to copyright fees in Belgium, which
  benefited revenue in H1 2017
- The unfavorable $3.9 million impact due to the reversal during the
  first quarter of 2018 of revenue in Switzerland that was
  recognized during prior-year periods
- The favorable impact of $3.8 million of mobile subscription
  revenue recognized in the U.K. during the third quarter of 2018
  related to the expected recovery of certain prior-period VAT
  payments

Q4 2018 Rebased Revenue Growth – Segment Highlights

U.K./Ireland: Rebased revenue growth of
2.4% in Q4 reflects (i) 3.0% rebased growth in our residential cable
business supported by subscriber growth and accelerating cable ARPU,
(ii) 1.3% rebased decline in residential mobile revenue (including
interconnect and mobile handset revenue), reflecting a lower volume of
mobile handset sales and a reduction in subscription revenue due to
lower out-of-bundle usage and regulatory changes such as
roam-like-home, and (iii) 3.1% rebased revenue growth in our B2B
business, driven by continued growth in our SOHO base
Belgium: Rebased revenue decline of 0.7%
in Q4 was mainly driven by the net effect of (i) higher B2B growth,
(ii) lower mobile revenue and (iii) lower cable subscription revenue
due to lower video subscribers
Switzerland: Rebased revenue declined
5.1% in Q4, primarily due to the net effect of (i) lower residential
cable subscription revenue, which was driven primarily by competitive
pressures, (ii) an increase in B2B revenue and (iii) higher mobile
revenue
Continuing CEE (Poland and Slovakia):
Rebased revenue declined 0.5% in Q4, due to the net effect of a
decrease in residential cable subscription revenue and growth in our
B2B business
Central and Corporate: Rebased revenue
increased 22.1% in Q4 due largely to the low-margin sale of customer
premises equipment to the VodafoneZiggo JV, which began in the second
quarter of 2018

Operating Income

Operating income of $252.2 million and $145.6 million in Q4 2018 and
Q4 2017, respectively, representing an increase of 73.2%
year-over-year. For the year ended December 31, 2018, our operating
income of $839.1 million reflects an increase of 10.3% as compared to
$760.5 million in YTD 2017
The increase in operating income in the Q4 period resulted from the
net effect of (i) a decrease in depreciation and amortization expense,
(ii) an increase in impairment, restructuring and other operating
items, net, (iii) an increase in share-based compensation expense and
(iv) higher OCF, as further described below
The increase in operating income in the YTD period resulted from the
net effect of (i) higher OCF, as further described below, (ii) an
increase in impairment, restructuring and other operating items, net,
(iii) an increase in depreciation and amortization expense and (iv) an
increase in share-based compensation expense

Operating Cash Flow Highlights

The following table presents (i) OCF of each of our consolidated
reportable segments for the comparative periods, and (ii) the percentage
change from period to period on both a reported and rebased basis:

	Three months ended						Increase/(decrease)				Year ended						Increase/(decrease)
	December 31,						Increase/(decrease)				December 31,						Increase/(decrease)
OCF	2018			2017⁵			%		Rebased %		2018			2017⁵			%		Rebased %
	in millions, except % amounts

Continuing operations:
U.K./Ireland	$	788.9		$	805.8		(2.1	)	1.2		$	3,057.2		$	2,857.9		7.0		3.5
Belgium	355.3			327.0			8.7		12.1		1,480.0			1,296.6			14.1		7.9
Switzerland	182.2			199.5			(8.7	)	(8.0	)	748.7			829.7			(9.8	)	(10.4	)
Continuing CEE	63.9			64.9			(1.5	)	3.2		249.1			234.3			6.3		2.0
Central and Corporate	(88.4		)	(108.3		)	18.4		7.5		(371.7		)	(415.8		)	10.6		11.5
Intersegment eliminations	(0.3		)	0.6			N.M.		N.M.		(11.8		)	(9.5		)	N.M.		N.M.
Total continuing operations	$	1,301.6		$	1,289.5		0.9		2.9		$	5,151.5		$	4,793.2		7.5		3.5

OCF margin – continuing operations	44.1		%	43.2		%					43.1		%	42.6		%

Discontinued European Operations⁽ⁱ⁾:
Germany	$	469.6		$	457.3		2.7		6.0		$	1,888.5		$	1,689.1		11.8		7.1
Austria	—			58.7			(100.0	)	—		137.3			218.4			(37.1	)	3.0
Discontinued CEE	80.0			80.1			(0.1	)	5.1		306.1			282.5			8.4		4.8
Intersegment eliminations	4.5			12.0			N.M.		N.M.		30.9			41.2			N.M.		N.M.
Total discontinued European operations	$	554.1		$	608.1		(8.9	)	4.8		$	2,362.8		$	2,231.2		5.9		6.1

Full Company									3.4										4.3

N.M. – Not Meaningful

(i) For information concerning our discontinued operations, see note 4.

Reported OCF for the three months and full year ended December 31,
2018 increased 0.9% and 7.5% year-over-year, respectively
- The YTD result was primarily driven by (i) the aforementioned
  positive impact of FX movements and (ii) organic growth
Rebased OCF growth of 2.9% in Q4 and 3.5% in YTD 2018 included:
- For the YTD period, the net unfavorable impact on our revenue of
  certain items, as discussed in the “Revenue Highlights” section
  above
- Higher costs of $34.3 million in U.K./Ireland in the YTD period
  resulting from the net impact of credits recorded during the
  second quarter of 2017 ($28.8 million), the fourth quarter of 2017
  ($10.5 million) and the second quarter of 2018 ($5.0 million) in
  connection with a telecommunications operator’s agreement to
  compensate Virgin Media and other communications providers for
  certain prior-period contractual breaches related to network
  charges
- A favorable impact of $29.1 million in the YTD period due to the
  expected settlement of a portion of our 2018 annual incentive
  compensation with Liberty Global ordinary shares through a
  shareholding incentive program that was implemented in the fourth
  quarter of 2017
- Unfavorable network tax increases of $4.8 million and $22.5
  million, respectively, following an increase in the rateable value
  of our existing U.K. networks, which is being phased in over a
  six-year period ending in 2022
- Unfavorable increases in costs in the U.K. of $2.7 million and
  $9.1 million, respectively, due to accruals in the second and
  fourth quarters of 2018 related to a fine imposed by OfCom for
  certain contractual breaches. This was settled in the fourth
  quarter of 2018 and we are currently appealing this fine
As compared to the prior-year periods, our Q4 and YTD 2018 OCF margins
were up 90 and 50 basis points, respectively, to 44.1% and 43.1%

Q4 2018 Rebased Operating Cash Flow Growth –
Segment Highlights

U.K./Ireland: Rebased OCF growth of 1.2%
was attributable to the aforementioned credits recorded in Q4 2017
related to prior-period contractual breaches related to network
charges, combined with increased programming costs and higher network
taxes, which partially offset revenue growth and lower marketing costs
Belgium: Rebased OCF growth of 12.1%,
largely driven by lower direct costs as a result of the migration of
subscribers to our own mobile network
Switzerland: Rebased OCF decline of 8.0%
in Q4, largely due to the aforementioned residential cable
subscription revenue decline
Continuing CEE (Poland and Slovakia):
Rebased OCF growth of 3.2% driven by the net effect of a decrease in
programming and labor costs and the aforementioned revenue trend

Net Earnings (Loss) Attributable to Liberty Global Shareholders

Net earnings (loss) attributable to Liberty Global shareholders was
$25.1 million and ($992.0 million) for the three months ended December
31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and $725.3 million and ($2,778.1
million) during the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017,
respectively

Leverage and Liquidity

Total principal amount of debt and capital leases:
$29.9 billion for continuing operations
Leverage ratios¹³: At December
31, 2018, our adjusted gross and net leverage ratios for the Full
Company were 5.0x and 4.8x, respectively.
Average debt tenor¹⁴:
Approximately 7 years, with ~76% not due until 2024 or thereafter for
continuing operations
Borrowing costs: Blended fully-swapped
borrowing cost of our debt was 4.3% for continuing operations
Liquidity¹²: $4.0 billion for
our continuing operations, including (i) $1.5 billion of cash at
December 31, 2018 and (ii) aggregate unused borrowing capacity¹⁵
under our credit facilitiesof $2.5 billion

Forward-Looking Statements and Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
including statements with respect to our strategies, future growth
prospects and opportunities; expectations with respect to our OCF
growth, our Adjusted FCF, our OFCF growth, and our reduced capital
intensity; expectations with respect to our operating structure
reorganization plan; the anticipated closings and impacts of each of the
Vodafone, DTH and Switzerland transactions; the estimated cash proceeds
from pending disposals to Vodafone, Sunrise and M7, expectations
regarding our share buyback program; the strength of our balance sheet
and tenor of our third-party debt; and other information and statements
that are not historical fact. These forward-looking statements involve
certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements.
These risks and uncertainties include events that are outside of our
control, such as the continued use by subscribers and potential
subscribers of our and our affiliates’ services and their willingness to
upgrade to our more advanced offerings; our and our affiliates’ ability
to meet challenges from competition, to manage rapid technological
change or to maintain or increase rates to subscribers or to pass
through increased costs to subscribers; the effects of changes in laws
or regulation; general economic factors; our and our affiliates’ ability
to obtain regulatory approval and satisfy regulatory conditions
associated with acquisitions and dispositions; our and affiliates’
ability to successfully acquire and integrate new businesses and realize
anticipated efficiencies from acquired businesses; the availability of
attractive programming for our and our affiliates’ video services and
the costs associated with such programming; our and our affiliates’
ability to achieve forecasted financial and operating targets; the
outcome of any pending or threatened litigation; the ability of our
operating companies and affiliates to access cash of their respective
subsidiaries; the impact of our operating companies’ and affiliates’
future financial performance, or market conditions generally, on the
availability, terms and deployment of capital; fluctuations in currency
exchange and interest rates; the ability of suppliers, vendors and
contractors to timely deliver quality products, equipment, software,
services and access; our and our affiliates’ ability to adequately
forecast and plan future network requirements including the costs and
benefits associated with network expansions; and other factors detailed
from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including our most recently filed Form 10-K. Further,
estimated cash proceeds from pending dispositions are inherently
uncertain and represent management’s expectations and beliefs and do not
take into account the ultimate use of the proceeds or any other changes
in our capital structure or tax effects, directly or indirectly related
to the pending dispositions. These forward-looking statements speak only
as of the date of this release. We expressly disclaim any obligation or
undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any
forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in our
expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or
circumstances on which any such statement is based.

Balance Sheets, Statements of Operations and Statements of Cash Flows

The consolidated balance sheets, statements of operations and statements
of cash flows of Liberty Global are in our 10-K.

Rebase Information

For purposes of calculating rebased growth rates on a comparable basis
for all businesses that we owned

Contacts

Liberty Global
Investor Relations
Matt Coates, +44 20
8483 6333
John Rea, +1 303 220 4238
Stefan Halters, +1 303 784
4528

Corporate Communications
Molly Bruce, +1 303 220
4202
Matt Beake, +44 20 8483 6428

Corporate Website
www.libertyglobal.com

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