Liberty Global Plc (LBTYA), the cable company controlled by American billionaire John Malone, reported fourth-quarter sales of $4.47 billion, falling short of analysts estimates. <\/p>\n
Sales advanced 71 percent from a year earlier, spurred by acquisitions including Virgin Media, the London-based company said in a statement yesterday. Analysts had projected $4.58 billion. The net loss attributable to Liberty Global shareholders narrowed to $121.2 million, or 31 cents a share, from $331.3 million, or $1.27 a year earlier. <\/p>\n
Liberty Global, which has spent almost $50 billion to consolidate Europes cable industry in recent years, agreed to buy Ziggo NV, the Dutch broadband operator, for 4.9 billion euros ($6.7 billion) last month. Liberty is facing increased competition from rivals including Vodafone Group Plc (VOD) vying for the continents remaining cable assets. <\/p>\n
We delivered our third consecutive year of more than 1 million organic subscriber additions, Chief Executive Officer Mike Fries said in the statement. The fourth quarter was our strongest quarter of the year, he said. <\/p>\n
The company expects to deliver adjusted free cash flow of about $2 billion this year, Fries said. <\/p>\n
Liberty Global fell 0.1 percent to $84.11 yesterday in New York. <\/p>\n
(The company plans a conference call at 9 a.m. New York time today. Dial +1-877-545-1414.) <\/p>\n
To contact the reporter on this story: Kristen Schweizer in London at kschweizer1@bloomberg.net<\/a> <\/p>\n To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at kwong11@bloomberg.net<\/a> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read this article: Liberty Global Plc (LBTYA), the cable company controlled by American billionaire John Malone, reported fourth-quarter sales of $4.47 billion, falling short of analysts estimates. Continue reading
\nMalones Liberty Global Reports Sales That Miss Analysts Views<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"