US-based Liberty Latin America (LLA) has reported revenue of USD849 million for the three months ended 30 June 2020, down 13.6% on an annualised basis, from USD983 million in 2Q19. Adjusted OIBDA plunged 14.1% from USD387 million in the second quarter of 2019 to USD333 million in the period under review, while the group registered an operating loss of USD206 million for 2Q20. The net loss attributable to shareholders was USD393 million for the second quarter, compared to a deficit of USD116 million in the year-ago period.
In operational terms, LLA reported a consolidated mobile user base of 3.310 million at 30 June 2020, alongside 2.704 million fixed broadband subscribers, 1.970 million pay-TV customers and 1.447 million fixed voice users.
LLA CEO Balan Nair commented: ‘As anticipated, following a strong start to the year, the second quarter brought with it a number of COVID-19 related challenges for many of our operations, resulting in declining year-over-year top-line performance. The good news is that we planned extensively and were able to offset some of the impacts through early cost management actions. As we look to the rest of the year, our mobile and B2B businesses are expected to see further challenges, however we believe we are past the low point. We continue to be focused on generating positive free cash flow in 2020, and took a step towards that with our strong Q2 performance.’
In other news, LLA has announced a USD350 million rights offering as part of the financing for its recently announced acquisition of Telefonica Costa Rica (Movistar). All members of the board and leadership team have expressed their intention to exercise their basic subscription rights in full, as have ‘significant shareholders’ John Malone and Searchlight Capital Partners. Nair added: ‘We feel this is an appropriate step to ensure we have flexibility to participate in accretive M&A opportunities, while maintaining a prudent capital structure.’