ZURICH – Liberty Global (NASDAQ: LBTYA) will spin off its Swiss telecoms operator Sunrise to shareholders in the fourth quarter of 2024, it said on Monday.
Liberty Global, set up by U.S. cable pioneer John Malone, had previously said it would spin off Sunrise on the SIX Swiss Exchange in the second half of the year.
Sunrise, which will be 100% spun off, gave financial details to analysts and investors at an event in Opfikon on the outskirts of Zurich.
The company, which provides mobile, landline, broadband, and TV services, reconfirmed its financial outlook, saying it still expected broadly stable revenues for 2024 and 2025, without giving any figures.
It expects adjusted free cash flow of 360 million Swiss francs to 370 million francs ($424 million – $436 million) for 2024, rising to 370-390 million francs in 2025. In the mid-term, it expects the figure to rise to more than 410 million francs.
Liberty Global (NASDAQ: LBTYA) plans a dividend payout of around 240 million francs for 2024, with a future dividend policy of paying out up to 70% of adjusted free cash flow.
CEO Andre Krause said Sunrise, which Liberty Global bought for $7.4 billion in 2020, will succeed as a standalone company.
“I am confident that this new company represents a compelling investment opportunity as the only pure play Swiss-listed telco, with a strong free cash flow profile that will underpin an attractive shareholder return policy,” he said.
($1 = 0.8489 Swiss francs)
(Source: Reuters)
Mary Lee is a freelance writer and journalist based in Toronto, Canada. She holds an M.S. degree in business and economic journalism from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York and a certificate in digital marketing from the University of Toronto.