Telenet : First Quarter 2020 Results

The enclosed information constitutes regulated information as defined in the Royal Decree of 14 November 2007 regarding the duties of issuers of financial instruments which have been admitted for trading on a regulated market. Inside information.

• Accelerated commercial momentum with 8,100 broadband net additions, our best performance since Q2 2016, driven by improved sales and reduced churn.
• Robust financial performance, delivering 994% net profit growth and 4% Adjusted EBITDA growth on a rebased basis.
• Well positioned for the future and to navigate through the COVID-19 impacts: reaffirming our 2018-2021 outlook, while modestly adjusting our FY 2020 guidance due to COVID-related impacts.

Mechelen, April 30, 2020 - Telenet Group Holding NV ('Telenet' or the 'Company') (Euronext Brussels: TNET) announces its unaudited consolidated results under International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union ('EU IFRS') for the three months ended March 31, 2020.

HIGHLIGHTS

Living our purpose: staying one step ahead in the digital world, connecting people and creating experiences for a better quality of life, as illustrated by many voluntary initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic for our customers and our community under the #samenerdoor/fairefaceensemble umbrella.

Continued strong FMC growth to 575,800 customers at the end of Q1 2020, up 34% yoy, reaching around 28% of total customer relationships and driving 23,800 net mobile postpaid subscriber additions in the quarter.

A higher share of multiple-play and higher-tier broadband customers and the benefit of certain price adjustments drove a healthy 2% yoy growth in the fixed ARPU per customer relationship to €58.3.

Q1 2020 revenue of €653.0 million, up 4% yoy and reflecting a full quarter contribution from De Vijver Media, which we acquired in June 2019. On a rebased(1) basis, our top line remained broadly unchanged as an improved trend in our subscription revenue was almost fully offset by lower business services and other revenue, including certain COVID-19 impacts on our ICT, handset-related and advertising revenue.

Net profit of €153.2 million in Q1 2020, which was strongly up yoy, driven by significantly higher net finance income in the period and lower income tax expense, partly offset by the accelerated amortization of sports-related broadcasting rights due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Q1 2020 Adjusted EBITDA(2) of €345.6 million, +8% yoy on a reported basis, including the De Vijver Media acquisition impact. On a rebased basis, our Adjusted EBITDA increased 4% yoy as the negative impact from the loss of the MEDIALAAN MVNO contract and certain regulatory headwinds was more than offset by (i) lower sales and marketing expenses due to phasing and last year's impact of the SFR customer migration and (ii) continued tight cost control.

Accrued capital expenditures(3) of €172.7 million in Q1 2020, which was unchanged versus the same period of last year. Our accrued capital expenditures represented 26% of revenue in the period and reflected (i) the inorganic De Vijver Media acquisition impact, (ii) proactive inventory building to safeguard our supply chain processes during the COVID-19 pandemic and (iii) seasonally higher spending on our IT upgrade program, driving further digital capabilities for the future.

Operating Free Cash Flow(4) of €172.9 million in Q1 2020, marking an 8% decrease yoy as solid Adjusted EBITDA growth was more than offset by seasonally higher capital investments in the quarter.

Net cash from operating activities, net cash used in investing activities and net cash used in financing activities of €282.5 million, €117.4 million and €129.0 million, respectively, in Q1 2020. Q1 2020 Adjusted Free Cash Flow(5) more than tripled to €83.4 million due to phasing in our cash tax payment and robust Adjusted EBITDA growth. In Q1 2020, we had net payments of €26.3 million under our vendor financing program as compared to a €43.9 million benefit in Q1 2019. Excluding this impact, our Adjusted Free Cash Flow growth would have been even higher.

Operating Free Cash Flow guidance of a 6.5 to 8.0% CAGR(a) over the 2018-2021 period maintained, while modestly adjusting our FY 2020 outlook due to the temporary impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic (see 3. Outlook for more information). This reflects the anticipated impacts of the current lock-down as of mid-March 2020 and excludes the effects of any additional lock-downs in the second half of the year, which could further affect our operations. It also assumes we will gradually exit the lock-down starting in May with a gradual economic recovery thereafter.

Anticipating a revenue and Adjusted EBITDA(b) decline of around 2% and around 1%, respectively, on a rebased basis for FY 2020. Excluding other revenue(c), which includes amongst others interconnect, handset-related revenue and advertising and production revenue generated by our local media business De Vijver Media, our revenue is expected to remain broadly stable compared to 2019, underpinning the resilience of our residential and business connectivity segments. Adjusted Free Cash Flow(f)(g) outlook of €415.0 - €435.0 million maintained, skewed however towards the lower end of the range. Operating Free Cash Flow(e)(e) expected to grow between 1% and 2% given our demonstrated track record of tight cost control and carefully balancing future investments. With that, we reconfirm our intention to maintain net total leverage around the mid-point of 4.0x, while continuing to deliver on our shareholder remuneration strategy as presented during the December 2018 Capital Markets Day.

Press releaseEarnings Release Q1 2020 ENG_FINAL.pdf - 266 KB