First Half 2023 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.

Mechelen, July 25, 2023 – 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 six months ended June 30, 2023.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Soft operational performance in Q2 2023, reflecting the combined impact of (i) the June 2023 price adjustment, (ii) temporary IT system issues because of the migration of customers to our new IT platform, (iii) an overall intense competitive environment and (iv) a temporary halt to some of our marketing campaigns. As a result, our broadband and mobile postpaid RGU bases contracted by net 5,000 and 5,400 RGUs, respectively. Both our video and fixed-line telephony RGU base continued to decrease, mainly driven by macro trends and shifting consumer preferences.
• Continued FMC growth, reaching 839,900 FMC subscribers at June 30, 2023, up 6% year-on-year and adding 5,500 net new FMC subscribers in Q2 2023.
• Revenue of €1,406.9 million in H1 2023, up 9% and 2% year-on-year on a reported and rebased⁽¹⁾ basis, respectively, driven by higher subscription and business services revenue. Top line growth in Q2 2023 retreated slightly relative to Q1 due to a lower contribution from our media franchise, having achieved 9% and 1% growth on a reported and rebased basis, respectively, to €704.1 million.
• In H1 2023, we incurred a net loss of €12.0 million, representing a significant decrease compared to the same period of last year when our €793.4 million net profit was favorably impacted by the gain related to the sale of our mobile infrastructure business to DigitalBridge in June last year.
• H1 2023 Adjusted EBITDA⁽²⁾ of €677.0 million, up 1% and broadly stable year-on-year on a reported and rebased basis, respectively. Our Adjusted EBITDA in H1 and Q2 2023 included a €10.5 million decrease in costs associated with the one-time benefit from expected settlements of certain operational contingencies, as contemplated in our guidance. The latter also favorably impacted our Q2 2023 Adjusted EBITDA performance, up 4% on both a reported and rebased basis to €357.4 million.
• Adjusted EBITDAaL⁽²⁾ of €619.1 million in H1 2023, +1% and +3% year-on-year on a reported and rebased basis, respectively (Q2 2023: €337.3 million, +7% and +9% on a reported and rebased basis, respectively). This reflected the same factors as those having impacted our H1 Adjusted EBITDA performance and also reflecting lower interest on the Fluvius lease as a result of the Wyre transaction.
• Accrued capital expenditures⁽³⁾ of €356.7 million in H1 2023 (Q2 2023: €168.2 million). Excluding the recognition of certain football broadcasting rights and certain lease-related capital additions impacts, as per our guidance, our accrued capital expenditures were €342.2 million (Q2 2023: €166.3 million) or approximately 24% of revenue (Q2 2023: approximately 24% of revenue). Compared to last year, our capital intensity increased following higher investments in 5G and Fiber-to-the-Home.
• Adjusted EBITDA less property & equipment additions⁽⁴⁾ of €334.8 million in H1 2023, -11% year-on-year as a result of increased capital intensity (Q2 2023: €191.1 million, up 2% year-on-year).
• Net cash from operating activities, net cash used in investing activities and net cash used in financing activities of €474.5 million, €297.2 million and €224.6 million, respectively, in H1 2023. Adjusted Free Cash Flow⁽⁵⁾ of €102.5 million in H1 2023, -39% year-on-year due to (i) 17% higher cash capital expenditures as a result of our increased capital intensity as mentioned above, (ii) a negative trend in our working capital, (iii) higher payments for cash interest and cash derivatives compared to H1 last year and (iv) a €4.2 million lower contribution from our vendor financing program compared to H1 last year given phasing in some of our payments. In line with our FY 2023 outlook, we expect the trend in our Adjusted Free Cash Flow to significantly improve for the second half of the year, reconfirming our full year objective of around €250.0 million.
• Robust debt and liquidity profile characterized by (i) no debt maturities until March 2028, (ii) weighted average maturity of 5.0 years, (iii) fully hedged debt profile with weighted average cost of debt (including hedges) of around 3.0% (see section 2.8), (iv) full access to €645.0 million of untapped liquidity under our revolving credit facilities, which represents a net €90.0 million increase relative to March 31, 2023 and (v) €1,017.1 million of cash and cash equivalents at June 30, 2023.
• After the initial acceptance period of Liberty Global's voluntary and conditional takeover bid for Telenet, Liberty Global will increase its ownership stake in Telenet to 93.23%, including Telenet's treasury shares. Liberty Global will reopen its offer on August 24, 2023. See section 3.3 Subsequent events for more details.