Balan Nair, CEO at Liberty Latin America.
Liberty Latin America (LLA) announced its financial and operating results for the three months (“Q4”) and fiscal year (“FY”) ended December 31, 2021. “The fourth quarter concluded a successful year for LLA. Despite continuing impacts from the pandemic and competitive challenges in Chile, we had strong operational performance across the rest of the group. We also made progress with the integration of our acquisitions in Puerto Rico and Costa Rica and successfully delivered against our 2021 guidance targets,” CEO Balan Nair commented.
The executive said that high-speed connectivity is the core of the offer for its clients and highlighted its commitment to expand and improve its networks during the year. “We added or upgraded approximately 750,000 homes passed across our operations, almost exclusively using fiber-to-the-home technology. Combining our network strength with attractive consumer propositions, we added more than 250,000 RGUs, over 50% higher than in the prior year. Our mobile operations delivered a solid performance bolstered by the inclusion of the business we acquired in Costa Rica, as we added nearly 500,000 subscribers in 2021, of which over 25% were postpaid.”
For Nair, the company’s B2B operations continued to recover during the year. “As we use our reliable, high-speed submarine, terrestrial and mobile networks combined with innovative product offerings to deliver effective solutions for our customers,” he said.
LLA reported $4.8 billion in revenue, $81 million of operating income, and $1.8 billion in Adjusted OIBDA in 2021. “We grew our cash flow from operations and Adjusted Free Cash Flow during the year to $1.0 billion and $200 million, respectively, delivering our Adjusted Free Cash Flow guidance. We also increased our share repurchase activity, with $65 million spent in 2021, and today we are announcing a new program to buy back up to $200 million.”
“Overall, we were pleased with our robust operational execution and financial performance in 2021. As we look ahead to 2022, we intend to deliver further operational enhancements and financial growth, continue to progress the integrations in Puerto Rico and Costa Rica and complete the accretive transactions announced in Panama and Chile. We remain focused on driving Adjusted Free Cash Flow for the group, and we are confident that the operational and strategic actions we are taking will enable a multi-year growth trajectory,” concluded Nair.