View from Mobile World Congress
Major European mobile operators were downbeat, with mobile revenue growth in Europe still massively underperforming the US, and their (misplaced in our view) anger at the OTT players being channelled into promoting new mobile OSs to compete with both Apple and Android
Samsung is cementing its dominance, while the other branded players focus on flagship models to try to cut through the noise. Meanwhile the flood of Android from Chinese OEM/ODMs is growing, at increasingly good quality. All other mobile platforms appear increasingly marginal |
Mobile, Telecoms |
March 2013 Access this report
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Virgin Media 50 Mbit/s broadband launch: product differentiation - at a price
On Monday 15th December, Virgin Media (VMed) announced the launch of its 50 Mbit/s ‘XXL’ broadband service, implemented over the existing cable network using the DOCSIS3 standard. This note looks at the details of the offer and the implications for VMed, other ISPs and the residential telecoms market as a whole |
Fixed line, Telecoms |
December 2008 Access this report
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Virgin Media Investor Day 2010: pausing for breath
Virgin Media’s recent investor day served to emphasise the potential for further growth in cash flow, with Virgin Mobile, next generation TV and Business taking more prominent roles
The new TiVo service, launched on 1 December, is impressive, but will not be available throughout the cable footprint until Q3 2011 and is more likely to help maintain the company’s differentiated position, keeping churn low and subscriber growth positive, than generate a sudden revenue boost |
Media, Mobile, TV, Fixed line, Internet, Telecoms |
December 2010 Access this report
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Virgin Media Q1 2007 results: headwinds increasing
Virgin Media’s Q1 top line results were again mixed, with a growing number of customers leaving as competition intensifies, despite the rebrand to Virgin. But it could have been worse; most higher-spending customers are remaining |
Media, TV, Fixed line, Telecoms |
May 2007 Access this report
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Virgin Media Q1 2008 results: turning point in prospect
VMed’s Q1 results represent a further step in the recovery of the core cable business, with markedly lower churn and strong growth in operating cash flow (OCF) |
Media, TV, Fixed line, Telecoms |
May 2008 Access this report
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Virgin Media Q1 2009 results: awaiting impact of price changes
VMed’s Q1 results were again mixed, with declining group revenue and OCF margin but improving performance at Virgin Mobile and continuing strength in TV
The core cable business is facing a return to negative customer growth due to a combination of seasonality and stalling demand for broadband |
Media, TV, Fixed line, Telecoms |
May 2009 Access this report
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Virgin Media Q1 2010 results: volume growth strengthening; still potential for improvement
VMed’s Q1 results were again strong, with price increases and opex reduction continuing as the main drivers, underpinned by strengthening volume growth
The company’s recently completed debt refinancing gives management much greater flexibility in deciding how much to reinvest in growing the business
The outlook continues to look very encouraging, with the April price increases, further cost reduction, modest turnarounds at Mobile and Business and improved wholesale terms for Sky content still to come |
Media, Mobile, TV, Fixed line, Telecoms |
April 2010 Access this report
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Virgin Media Q1 2011 results: still respectable, but growth dropping
VMed’s Q1 results were respectable, helped by strong revenue growth at Virgin Media Business
However, growth in volume, ARPU and OCF, while still positive, is trending downwards, and we retain our expectation of more limited progress in 2011 compared to 2010
VMed’s strategy is coherent; the issue is the pace at which initiatives such as high speed broadband, service convergence and footprint expansion can be converted into cash flow growth |
Media, Mobile, TV, Fixed line, Telecoms |
April 2011 Access this report
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Virgin Media Q1 2013 results: Early price increase boosts revenue
Virgin Media’s consumer business had a very strong quarter in revenue growth terms, but a weaker one in subscriber terms, both driven by the annual price increase occurring during the quarter
On the wholesale side, the company signed up both Sky and two mobile operators for backhaul services, likely at BT Wholesale’s expense
Net net Virgin Media is well on course, with the completion of the acquisition by Liberty Global expected by the end of Q2 unlikely to derail this |
Media, Mobile, TV, Fixed line, Telecoms |
April 2013 Access this report
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Virgin Media Q2 2007 results: cash flow down; outlook for top line growth remains dubious
The loss of Sky basic channels, strong competition and a maturing broadband market have combined to weaken Virgin Media’s top line results sufficiently to cause cash flow to decline |
Fixed line, Telecoms |
August 2007 Access this report
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Virgin Media Q2 2008 results: continuing improvement but not yet firing on all cylinders
VMed’s Q2 results represent a further step in the recovery of the business, with fixed line churn continuing to fall and operating cash flow (OCF) continuing to grow, helped by a dramatic improvement in OCF at Virgin Mobile |
Media, TV, Fixed line, Telecoms |
August 2008 Access this report
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Virgin Media Q2 2009 results: positive impact from price increases
VMed’s Q2 results were again mixed but, on balance, encouraging, with the impact of the May price increases feeding through into revenue growth
Cable volume performance was poor but, with the exception of broadband, no worse than expected, and is not expected to deteriorate further relative to the market
We remain optimistic that management will succeed in combining revenue growth with reductions in operating costs to generate sustained growth in cash flow from autumn 2009 |
Media, TV, Fixed line, Telecoms |
August 2009 Access this report
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Virgin Media Q2 2010 results: real top line strength
Virgin Media’s Q2 results showed real strength in the top line, with continuing growth in cable revenue due to increases in both price and volume compounded by long-awaited growth in revenue from mobile and B2B, although overall performance was compromised to an extent by higher costs
The sale of VMtv to Sky cements a de facto pay TV duopoly by clarifying the distinctive wholesale and retail roles of the two leading players, against which others will find it hard to compete |
Media, TV, Fixed line, Telecoms |
July 2010 Access this report
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Virgin Media Q2 2011 results: resilient but with limits
VMed’s Q2 results were respectable, but quirky, with resilient underlying revenue and strong cash flow, but exceptionally weak cable volumes
Virgin Mobile is performing better than ever, but steam continues to seep from the cable cash flow boiler
A TiVo push and further progress at Virgin Media Business are still to come, but we expect a trend of gradual decline in fundamental cash flow growth |
Media, Mobile, TV, Fixed line, Internet, Telecoms |
July 2011 Access this report
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Virgin Media Q3 2007 results: some better news but sustained improvement in cash flow growth remains distant
Telecoms subscriber growth has improved sharply but this has been achieved at the expense of ARPU growth; revenue continues to decline
Apparent weaknesses in its Q3 2007 results notwithstanding, Premiere has a good chance of meeting its FY 2007 guidance targets of €1 billion in revenues and €80-100 million in EBITDA after recovering marketing rights to live televised domestic football |
Media, Telecoms |
November 2007 Access this report
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Virgin Media Q3 2008 results: significant improvement, but economic environment continuing to present challenges
Virgin Media’s Q3 results represent a significant step in the recovery of the business, with ARPU and consumer cable revenue stable for the first time in 18 months. Group OCF growth was hit by one-off opex reductions in the prior quarter but continues to grow on an underlying basis |
Media, TV, Fixed line, Telecoms |
November 2008 Access this report
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Virgin Media Q3 2009 results: steaming ahead
VMed’s Q3 results were strong, with the impact of the May price increases feeding through almost directly into growth in revenue and cash flow. Cable volume performance was solid, given difficult market conditions and the focus on higher value customers
VMed’s plans for HD are becoming increasingly important. In this regard, the outcome of Ofcom’s pay-TV investigation could prove crucial |
Media, TV, Fixed line, Telecoms |
October 2009 Access this report
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Virgin Media Q3 2010 results: resilience under pressure
VMed’s Q3 results showed continuing strength in the face of heavy marketing by BT Retail and BSkyB, although cable churn increased significantly
There are plenty of further challenges on the horizon, including a downturn in consumer confidence and later, the launch of YouView and wider deployment by BT of next generation access
The broad based nature of the company’s growth and its plans for further product development in TV and broadband continue to give us confidence in the potential for further growth in cash flow, albeit at a more modest pace |
Media, Mobile, TV, Fixed line, Internet, Technology, Telecoms |
October 2010 Access this report
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Virgin Media Q3 2011 results: mixed not nixed
Q3 results were contradictory, with accelerating demand for enhanced services and resilient revenue, but high churn and weak growth in fundamental cash flow
Cost increases struck us as justifiable in the longer term and were in some cases temporary. We share management’s confidence that there is better news to come, particularly at Virgin Media Business
Nonetheless, we remain of the view that future cash flow growth is likely to be significantly lower than that seen over the past two years, particularly given the deteriorating economic outlook |
Media, Mobile, TV, Fixed line, Telecoms |
October 2011 Access this report
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Virgin Media Q3 results: Subscriber growth creeps up
In Q3 Virgin Media delivered the strongest cable subscriber net adds it has enjoyed in years, with household net adds of 40k and broadband net adds of 57k ARPU and revenue growth moderated from the previous quarter, but remained strong in absolute terms at 2% and 3% respectively Broadband growth will likely still look modest compared to BT and Sky, but Virgin Media’s base is looking increasingly solid against any future attacks |
Media, Mobile, TV, Fixed line, Telecoms |
October 2012 Access this report
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