Liberty Latin America Reports Q4 and FY 2024 Results

~100,000 organic fixed and mobile subscriber net adds in 2024

Robust revenue & Adj. OIBDA growth in C&W Caribbean, Panama & Costa Rica

Puerto Rico remains challenged; rebuilding in 2025

~400,000 homes passed or upgraded using FTTH; 97% of footprint Gigabit-ready

Successfully refinanced $3.3bn of C&W credit silo debt in last 6 months

Liberty Latin America Ltd. (“Liberty Latin America” or “LLA”) (NASDAQ: LILA and LILAK, OTC Link: LILAB) today announced its financial and operating results for the three months (“Q4”) and twelve months (“YTD” and “FY”) ended December 31, 2024.

CEO Balan Nair commented, “In 2024, we made significant investments in our networks and products, driving broadband and postpaid mobile subscriber growth. Successful operational execution and a focus on cost efficiencies drove strong Adjusted OIBDA growth in C&W Caribbean, Panama and Costa Rica. In Puerto Rico, we had a challenging year as we completed our migration from AT&T's platforms and we now aim to pivot to a growth trajectory for this business.”

“We are committed to delivering leading services across our markets, and continue to invest in our fixed, mobile and subsea networks. By the end of 2024, 97% of our fixed networks were enabled to deliver speeds of at least 1Gbps compared to approximately 80% at the end of 2023, and we are on-track to reach nearly 100% in 2025. In mobile, we expanded our coverage and capacity through upgrades and selective spectrum acquisitions. Finally, in subsea within Liberty Networks, we are progressing with plans to build new systems whilst investing in capacity upgrades across existing routes.”

“Our capital structure was also strengthened as we completed our near-term refinancing targets for the C&W credit silo earlier this month. We raised $3.3 billion of debt in aggregate since last October, thereby extending the silo's weighted average maturity profile to 6.5 years. This highlights our ability to access markets efficiently, demonstrates the strength of the C&W credit silo, and positions the business for continued growth.”

“Looking ahead to 2025, we are positioned for a positive year and continue to see a path to achieving our previously announced three-year guidance targets for Adjusted OIBDA and Adjusted FCF. After year one of the guidance period, we are behind where we expected to be given the impact of the Puerto Rico migration and slow recovery, and so the key for us will be to drive outperformance in other areas and quickly return our Puerto Rican business to sustained growth. Following significant investments, including the completion of our copper to FTTH upgrades across the group and IT and mobile network upgrades in Puerto Rico, we are reducing our annual expectations for LLA P&E additions to revenue to 14% from 16%, further supporting Adjusted FCF generation.”

FY 2024 Business Highlights

• C&W Caribbean: solid end to the year, well positioned for further growth
  • Adjusted OIBDA margin up by nearly 200 basis points to 43%
  • YoY reported and rebased Adjusted OIBDA growth of 6% and 7%, respectively
• C&W Panama: mobile momentum & double-digit Adjusted OIBDA growth
  • >100,000 mobile subscriber additions in 2024
  • YoY double-digit Adjusted OIBDA growth of 18%
• Liberty Networks: strong enterprise performance
  • Double-digit reported growth in enterprise business
  • Wholesale revenue impacted by non-cash IRU amortization
• Liberty Puerto Rico: mobile challenges, fixed operations remain stable
  • Postpaid mobile churn reducing sequentially
  • Liberty recognized as having the island's fastest fixed and most reliable mobile network
• Liberty Costa Rica: continued strong operating and financial performance
  • Over 110,000 postpaid adds in 2024, 31% higher YoY
  • Double-digit reported revenue & Adjusted OIBDA growth

Financial and Operating Highlights

Amounts may not recalculate due to rounding.

N.M. – Not Meaningful.

Revenue Highlights

The following table presents (i) revenue of each of our segments and corporate operations for the periods indicated and (ii) the percentage change from period-to-period on both a reported and rebased basis:

N.M. – Not Meaningful.

• Reported revenue was 1% lower for both the three months and year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the corresponding prior-year periods.
  • Reported revenue declined in Q4 primarily driven by a reduction in Liberty Puerto Rico, which was partly offset by organic growth in Liberty Costa Rica.
  • Reported revenue was lower for the FY driven by reduced revenue in Liberty Puerto Rico, partly offset by: (1) net organic growth in Liberty Costa Rica, C&W Caribbean and C&W Panama and (2) net foreign exchange benefits of $29 million.

Q4 2024 Revenue Growth – Segment Highlights

• C&W Caribbean: revenue increased by 1% and 2%, on a reported and rebased basis, respectively.
  • Fixed residential revenue declined by 2% on a reported basis and 1% on a rebased basis. The rebased performance was driven by a $3m negative impact related to Hurricane Beryl, primarily in Jamaica.
  • Mobile residential revenue increased by 6% on a reported basis and 7% on a rebased basis. Performance was driven by 43,000 net postpaid subscriber additions over the last twelve months and higher prepaid ARPU following price increases, primarily in Jamaica.
  • B2B revenue was flat and 1% higher, respectively, on a reported and rebased basis. Year-over-year rebased growth was mainly driven by an increase in recurring fixed and managed services revenue.
• C&W Panama: revenue was broadly stable, growing by 1% on a reported and rebased basis, year-over-year.
  • Fixed residential revenue was up 2%, driven by broadband RGU additions following expansion of our FTTH networks, products and commercial activities.
  • Mobile residential revenue grew by 20%, driven by: (i) subscription and handset equipment growth following the addition of 78,000 postpaid subscribers over the last twelve months, including gains following the exit of a competitor, and (ii) improved prepaid ARPU as our products and promotions led to increased recharge activity.
  • B2B revenue fell by 13%, primarily due to lower revenue from government-related projects, some of which we anticipate to be executed in 2025.
• Liberty Networks: revenue declined by 3% and 2% on a reported and rebased basis, respectively. The year-over-year decline was driven by lower wholesale network revenue as compared to the prior-year period when we won a significant new contract. This was partly offset by higher enterprise revenue due primarily to continued growth in managed services and B2B connectivity.
• Liberty Puerto Rico: revenue was 10% and 13% lower on a reported and rebased basis, respectively, year-over-year. The rebased comparison includes the acquisition of EchoStar's Puerto Rico and USVI prepaid mobile customer base on September 3, 2024, which contributed $10 million of revenue in each of the current and corresponding prior-year quarters.
  • Residential fixed revenue declined by 2% year-over-year, on both a reported and rebased basis, primarily due to lower ARPU caused by retention-related discounts.
  • Residential mobile revenue was 16% and 20% lower compared to the prior-year period on a reported and rebased basis, respectively. This was driven by a reduction in mobile subscribers and ARPU, year-over-year, impacted by disruption related to the migration of customers to our mobile network, and lower equipment sales due to promotional activity.
  • B2B revenue declined by 21% year-over-year, on both a reported and rebased basis, primarily reflecting the cancellation of the FCC's Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) which led to a reduction of 61,000 mobile postpaid subs over the past year as well as a reduction in subscribers related to migration challenges and associated credits issued for billing adjustments.

Sequentially, revenue grew by 3% on a reported basis driven by the EchoStar acquisition, and prepaid subscribers grew organically for the third consecutive quarter.

• Liberty Costa Rica: revenue grew by 13% on a reported basis and 9% on a rebased basis, year-over-year. Reported performance benefited from a $7 million positive foreign exchange impact as the Costa Rican colon appreciated against the U.S. dollar. The strong year-over-year rebased performance was mainly driven by higher mobile revenue, primarily due to postpaid subscriber growth, and an increase in B2B project-related revenue.

Operating Income (Loss)

• Operating income (loss) was $128 million and $113 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and ($48 million) and $518 million for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
  • Operating income increased during the three months ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the corresponding period in 2023, mostly driven by the net effect of (i) lower depreciation and amortization, (ii) an increase in impairment, restructuring and other operating items, net, and (iii) an increase in share-based compensation and other Employee Incentive Plan-related expense. We reported an operating loss during the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to operating income during the corresponding period in 2023, primarily due to the net effect of (i) the impairment of the goodwill balance at Liberty Puerto Rico (ii) a decline in Adjusted OIBDA and (iii) a decrease in depreciation and amortization expense.

Adjusted OIBDA Highlights

The following table presents (i) Adjusted OIBDA of each of our reportable segments and our corporate category for the periods indicated and (ii) the percentage change from period-to-period on both a reported and rebased basis:

N.M. – Not Meaningful.

• Reported Adjusted OIBDA for the three months and year ended December 31, 2024 decreased by 1% and 6%, respectively, as compared to the corresponding prior-year periods.
  • Reported Adjusted OIBDA declined in Q4 and the FY as organic reductions in Liberty Puerto Rico were partly offset by growth in C&W Panama, C&W Caribbean and Liberty Costa Rica.

Q4 2024 Adjusted OIBDA Growth – Segment Highlights

• C&W Caribbean: Adjusted OIBDA increased by 5% and 6% on a reported and rebased basis, respectively. Our Adjusted OIBDA margin improved by over 150 basis points year-over-year to 45% in the fourth quarter.

• C&W Panama: Adjusted OIBDA increased by 19% on both a reported and rebased basis, driven by product mix and synergies from the Claro Panama acquisition.

• Liberty Networks: Adjusted OIBDA decreased by 1% on a reported basis and was flat on a rebased basis, year-over-year. The revenue decline in the quarter was offset by lower interconnect charges in the current year and a non-recurring cost in the prior-year period.

• Liberty Puerto Rico: Adjusted OIBDA declined by 23% and 24% on a reported and rebased basis, respectively. The performance was driven primarily by the impact of our aforementioned revenue decline, partly offset by the net impact of: (i) lower operating costs and expenses due to the termination of our TSA with AT&T following migration, (ii) increased bad debt charges largely related to equipment installment programs and (iii) lower staff costs due to efficiency programs.

• Liberty Costa Rica: Adjusted OIBDA grew by 16% and 11% on a reported and rebased basis, respectively. Rebased performance was driven by the aforementioned revenue growth. Our Adjusted OIBDA margin improved by approximately 100 basis points year-over-year to 40% in the fourth quarter.

Net Loss Attributable to Shareholders

• Net loss attributable to shareholders was $178 million and $657 million for the three months and year ended December 31, 2024, respectively, and $103 million and $74 million for the three months and year ended December 31, 2023, respectively.

Property & Equipment Additions and Capital Expenditures

The table below highlights the categories of the property and equipment additions (P&E Additions) for the indicated periods and reconciles to cash paid for capital expenditures, net.

1. Table excludes Liberty Networks as that segment only provides B2B-related services.

Summary of Debt, Finance Lease Obligations and Cash & Cash Equivalents

The following table details the U.S. dollar equivalent balances of the outstanding principal amounts of our debt and finance lease obligations, and cash and cash equivalents at December 31, 2024:

1. Represents the aggregate amount held by subsidiaries of Liberty Latin America that are outside our borrowing groups.
2. Represents the C&W borrowing group, including the C&W Caribbean, Liberty Networks and C&W Panama reportable segments.
3. Cash amount includes restricted cash that serves as collateral against certain letters of credit associated with the funding received from the FCC to continue to expand and improve our fixed network in Puerto Rico.
4. Consolidated leverage ratios are non-GAAP measures. For additional information, including definitions of our consolidated leverage ratios and required reconciliations, see Non-GAAP Reconciliations below.
5. For purposes of calculating our weighted average tenor, total debt excludes vendor financing, debt related to the Tower Transactions, other debt and finance lease obligations.
6. At December 31, 2024, the full amount of unused borrowing capacity under our subsidiaries' revolving credit facilities was available to be borrowed, both before and after completion of the December 31, 2024 compliance reporting requirements.

Quarterly Subscriber Variance

1. The non-organic adjustment to customer relationships and video subscribers reflects losses resulting from the announcement that we will shut down Claro Panama's DTH operations effective mid-January 2025.
2. Represents adjustments associated with the migration to a new prepaid billing system.

ARPU per Customer Relationship

The following table provides ARPU per customer relationship for the indicated periods:

Mobile ARPU

The following table provides ARPU per mobile subscriber for the indicated periods:

1. The FX-Neutral change represents the percentage change on a sequential basis adjusted for FX impacts and is calculated by adjusting the current-period figures to reflect translation at the foreign currency rates used to translate the prior quarter amounts.
2. The ARPU per customer relationship amounts in Costa Rican colones for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and September 30, 2024 were CRC 21,157 and CRC 21,888, respectively.
3. The sequential mobile ARPU decline in Liberty Puerto Rico was impacted by a larger than normal amount of credits provided to customers in Q4, as well as higher handset insurance revenue in Q3.
4. The mobile ARPU amount in Costa Rican colones for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and September 30, 2024 were CRC 3,745 and CRC 3,666, respectively.

Forward-Looking Statements and Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding our strategies, priorities and objectives, financial and operational performance, growth expectations; our digital strategy, product innovation and commercial plans and projects; subscriber growth; expectations on demand for connectivity in the region; the recovery by our Puerto Rico operations; the strength of our balance sheet and tenor of our debt; and other information and statements that are not historical fact. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements. These risks and uncertainties include events that are outside of our control, such as hurricanes and other natural disasters, political or social events, and pandemics, such as COVID-19, the uncertainties surrounding such events, the ability and cost to restore networks in the markets impacted by hurricanes or generally to respond to any such events; the continued use by subscribers and potential subscribers of our services and their willingness to upgrade to our more advanced offerings; our ability to meet challenges from competition, to manage rapid technological change or to maintain or increase rates to our subscribers or to pass through increased costs to our subscribers; the effects of changes in laws or regulation; general economic factors; our ability to successfully acquire and integrate new businesses and realize anticipated efficiencies from acquired businesses; the ability to obtain regulatory approvals and satisfy the other conditions to closing with respect to the transaction with Millicom in Costa Rica; the availability of attractive programming for our video services and the costs associated with such programming; our ability to achieve forecasted financial and operating targets; the outcome of any pending or threatened litigation; the ability of our operating companies to access cash of their respective subsidiaries; the impact of our operating companies' future financial performance, or market conditions generally, on the availability, terms and deployment of capital; fluctuations in currency exchange and interest rates; the ability of suppliers and vendors to timely deliver quality products, equipment, software, services and access; our ability to adequately forecast and plan future network requirements including the costs and benefits associated with network expansions; and other factors detailed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recently filed Form 10-K. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

About Liberty Latin America

Liberty Latin America is a leading communications company operating in over 20 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands BTC, Flow, Liberty and Más Móvil. The communications and entertainment services that we offer to our residential and business customers in the region include digital video, broadband internet, telephony and mobile services. Our business products and services include enterprise-grade connectivity, data center, hosting and managed solutions, as well as information technology solutions with customers ranging from small and medium enterprises to international companies and governmental agencies. In addition, Liberty Latin America operates a subsea and terrestrial fiber optic cable network that connects over 30 markets in the region.

Liberty Latin America has three separate classes of common shares, which are traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbols “LILA” (Class A) and “LILAK” (Class C), and on the OTC link under the symbol “LILAB” (Class B).

For more information, please visit www.lla.com.

Footnotes

1. Rebased growth rates are a non-GAAP measure. The indicated growth rates are rebased for the estimated impacts of FX and an acquisition. See Non-GAAP Reconciliations below.
2. Consolidated Adjusted OIBDA is a non-GAAP measure. For the definition of Adjusted OIBDA and required reconciliations, see Non-GAAP Reconciliations below.
3. Adjusted Free Cash Flow (“Adjusted FCF”) is a non-GAAP measure. For the definition of Adjusted FCF and required reconciliations, see Non-GAAP Reconciliations below.
4. See Glossary for the definition of RGUs and mobile subscribers. Organic figures exclude RGUs and mobile subscribers of acquired entities at the date of acquisition and other non-organic adjustments, but include the impact of changes in RGUs and mobile subscribers from the date of acquisition. All subscriber / RGU additions or losses refer to net organic changes, unless otherwise noted.

Additional Information | Cable & Wireless Borrowing Group

The following tables reflect preliminary unaudited selected financial results, on a consolidated C&W basis, for the periods indicated, in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

^1. Indicated growth rates are rebased for the estimated impacts of FX.

The following table details the U.S. dollar equivalent of the nominal amount outstanding of C&W's third-party debt and cash and cash equivalents:

• At December 31, 2024, our third-party total and proportionate net debt was $4.4 billion and $4.1 billion, respectively, our Fully-swapped Borrowing Cost was 5.7%, and the average tenor of our debt obligations (excluding vendor financing and debt related to the Tower Transactions) was approximately 4.3 years.
• Our portion of Adjusted OIBDA, after deducting the noncontrolling interests' share, (“Proportionate Adjusted OIBDA”) was $252 million for Q4 2024.
• C&W's Covenant Proportionate Net Leverage Ratio was 3.8x, which is calculated by annualizing the last two quarters of Covenant EBITDA in accordance with C&W's Credit Agreement.
• At December 31, 2024, we had maximum undrawn commitments of $614 million, including $80 million under our regional facilities. At December 31, 2024, the full amount of unused borrowing capacity under our credit facilities (including regional facilities) was available to be borrowed, both before and after completion of the December 31, 2024 compliance reporting requirements.
• The following transactions took place subsequent to December 31, 2024:
  • C&W entered into a $1.5 billion principal amount Term SOFR + 3.25% term loan due January 31, 2032. The drawdown on the C&W Term Loan B-7 Facility was made at a 99.5% original issue discount. The net proceeds from the C&W Term Loan B-7 Facility were used to repay in full the C&W Term Loan B-5 Facility at par.
  • C&W issued $755 million of 9.00% senior notes due January 15, 2033, at par. The net proceeds from the 2033 C&W Senior Notes were used to redeem in full the remaining 2027 C&W Senior Notes at 100.859%.
  • An increase and amendment agreement was signed in respect of the extension agreement on the C&W Revolving Credit Facility originally entered into in September 2024. In accordance with this increase and amendment agreement, including certain new commitments that were made available thereunder, a total of $460 million of commitments under the C&W Revolving Credit Facility (i) had their maturity date extended to April 15, 2029, effective upon the refinancing of the C&W Term Loan B-5 Facility (which occurred subsequent to December 31, 2024), and (ii) will automatically have their maturity date extended to January 31, 2031 upon the occurrence of the refinancing of the C&W Term Loan B-6 Facility.

Liberty Puerto Rico (LPR) Borrowing Group

The following tables reflect preliminary unaudited selected financial results, on a consolidated Liberty Puerto Rico basis, for the periods indicated, in accordance with U.S. GAAP:

^1. Indicated growth rates are rebased for the estimated impacts of an acquisition.

The following table details the nominal amount outstanding of Liberty Puerto Rico's third-party debt, finance lease obligations and cash and cash equivalents:

1. Cash amounts include restricted cash that serves as collateral against certain letters of credit associated with funding received from the FCC to continue to expand and improve our fixed network in Puerto Rico.

• At December 31, 2024, our Fully-swapped Borrowing Cost was 6.2% and the average tenor of our debt (excluding vendor financing, debt related to the Tower Transactions and other debt) was approximately 3.5 years.

• LPR's Covenant Consolidated Net Leverage Ratio was 7.4x, which is calculated by annualizing the last two quarters of Covenant EBITDA in accordance with LPR’s Group Credit Agreement.

• At December 31, 2024, we had maximum undrawn commitments of $123 million. At December 31, 2024, the full amount of unused borrowing capacity under our revolving credit facility was available to be borrowed, both before and after completion of the December 31, 2024 compliance reporting requirements.

Liberty Costa Rica Borrowing Group

The following tables reflect preliminary unaudited selected financial results, on a consolidated Liberty Costa Rica basis, for the periods indicated, in accordance with U.S. GAAP: