Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Ziggo: preview 13Q1

Ziggo reports on 13Q1 tomorrow, April 16, at 7:30 AM local time.

Relevancy to investors is limited, since the Liberty Global share price drives Ziggo's stock. Apart from the performance relative to consensus and the outlook (can it be maintained?), this is what to look for on the consumer market:
  • Analog TV losses and conversion to digital. Analog penetration will drop below 15%, bringing analog switch-off discussions into the spotlight. It's the last quarter including subscribers on the Kabelnoord network.
  • Network utility rate: dropping to just over 60%.
  • Broadband market: net additions, penetration to cross the 70% mark.
  • Mobile market: not quite reaching 100k (YE 2013: 33k).
  • Organic revenue growth (excl. the Esprit takeover): further improvement expected in line with management goals coming from broadband and telephony.
  • EBITDA margin: may drop after heavy ad spending, but management target is flat for the year.
  • Capex: guidance EUR 370 for the year.
When it comes to the business market, it remains to be seen if there is any growth at all. Excluding Esprit, revenues have been flat for a while.

Further operational details:
  • How is the WiFi network developing. How many homespots? Are public hotspots being added? Usage stats.
  • Usage stats on Ziggo's apps (TV app, voicemail app and the new Bapp VoIP app).
  • Netflix impact, both on traffic and revenues.
  • Other subscriber numbers, such as HBO subs and digital pay-TV subs.
  • Commercial plans, campaigns.