During the first quarter of 2024, Liberty Latin America gains 45,000 organic broadband and postpaid mobile subscriber net adds and reported flat revenue as compared to the corresponding prior-year period.
Reported revenue in first quarter was flat as net organic growth, driven by C&W Caribbean and Liberty Costa Rica and net foreign exchange benefits of $16 million dollars, were offset by organic declines in Liberty Puerto Rico, explained the company in the quarterly report.
“The focus on our broadband and postpaid bases continued to drive subscriber additions through the first quarter. All our reporting segments added broadband subscribers in first quarter, led by our Jamaica and Panama markets. In postpaid mobile, Costa Rica was our strongest performer, with Puerto Rico impacted by migration efforts. We have implemented price increases in our largest C&W Caribbean markets and Costa Rica which are expected to support our revenue growth ambitions,” commented Balan Nair, CEO of Liberty Latin America.
The operating income of Liberty Latin America was $93 million dollars during the first quarter of 2024, less than the $107 million dollars for the three months ended March 31, 2023.
Liberty Latin America reported lower operating income during the three months ending March 31, 2024, as compared to the corresponding period in 2023, primarily due to the net impact of a decline in Adjusted OIBDA (Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization), a decrease in impairment, restructuring and other operating items, net, and higher depreciation and amortization, added the company.
“We delivered strong operating and financial results across Panama, Costa Rica and C&W Caribbean in the first quarter. In Puerto Rico, we have achieved the significant milestone of migrating all our mobile customers to our own operating platform and are now positioned to drive sequential improvement throughout the year following significant integration-related expenses during the first quarter. We remain on track for significant Adj. OIBDA and cash flow expansion in the second half of the year,” expressed Nair.
In Puerto Rico, the company is incurring increased costs related to the final stages of customer migration and transitioning to new IT systems and a wireless core network.
“We believe we have the right strategic assets and team to be successful. Looking forward, we expect synergies, operating cost improvements, and top line sequential growth will drive Adj. OIBDA to more than $45 million dollars per month at some point in the second half. We are confident for a bright future and are well positioned for meaningful operating and financial expansion in 2025 and beyond,” detailed the CEO.
Furthermore, Nair said that the company advise a significant value opportunity in the equity.
“In the first quarter, we acted aggressively, repurchasing 9 million shares or about 5% of our equity. In addition, we increased our share repurchase authorization by $200 million dollars.”
