Liberty Global PLC

Liberty Global PLC is an international television and communication company, established in 2005 with the headquarters in London, the United Kingdom. The main products and services offered by the company are cable television, broadband internet, telephony, direct-broadcast satellites and mobile connection. Liberty Global PLC provides its services in 14 countries all over the world, including12 countries in Europe. The number of customers is 24 million worldwide. The shares of Liberty Global PLC are traded on NASDAQ and have the LBTYA naming.

Question 1

The gross profit margin of Liberty Global PLC is rather high, though the net profit margin of -5.43% significantly underperforms when talking about the comparison to the industry average (YCharts, 2014). For the last three years, the gross profit margin has lowered from the 64.77% in June 2011 to 62.64% in June 2014 (Bloomberg, 2014). In 2012, June the gross profit margin was 64.85%, and in the same month of 2013 64.09% (YCharts, 2014). The debt to asset ratio in June 2011 was 5.679, in 2012 – 7.734(YCharts, 2014). The same data lowered to 3.479 in June 2013 and in June 2014 it was 3.720 (Bloomberg, 2014). The debt is still rather high. Price-earning ratio starting in June 2011 and finishing in June 2014 have the following meanings – 700; 30; no data was found for 2013 and in June 2014 it was reached the point of 29.97 (YCharts, 2014). The inventory turnover of Liberty Global PLC is 0.00, and this figure has been stable for the last three years (YCharts, 2014). The current ratio of the Liberty Global PLC is 0.43, which becomes obvious from the latest balance sheet of the company. Net operating cash flow has grown to $1,596.30 million (Bloomberg, 2014). It is 102.44% more than the previous year (YCharts, 2014). The quick ratio of the company is 0.28 (Bloomberg, 2014). It means the inability to cover short-term cash needs of the company. 

 

Type of service

Type of assignment

Title of your paper *

Academic level

Pages

Timeframe

Spacing

Currency

  Order now

Question 2

The figures show that the company has no stable position. The ratio demonstrates both the strength, and the weakness of the company. The main financial trends of the company are the cooperation with strong partners and merging with smaller companies. Following these trends, Liberty Global PLC is trying to involve more people into the turnover and raise the value of the shares on the stock market. However, the share prices of Liberty Global PLC are growing  because of the latest announcement of the deal with Comcast. Under this new agreement, the customers of each internet provider will have access to the Wi-Fi networks in different countries. The Comcast has a big amount of hotspots in the USA, so Liberty Global clients will be able to connect to them when travelling. The same opportunity is available for the Comcast users in the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland and other European countries. The shared service will have started by the end of 2014. The management of Liberty Global expects the raise of the cooperation level with other cable companies worldwide.

The company is actively pursuing a strategy of expansion on the European market to increase its influence and become a global leader in the cable television sector. The current strategy is rather aggressive. It is focused on the diversification of business and increase of the market share growth. So, Liberty Global PLC is expecting to develop the business and to conquer new regions within the next five years. The rating outlook of the company will remain stable.

The assets of content and production are on the highest level now. The average customer has more than one screen at his disposal and the content is what draws attention. Liberty Global proposes the revolutionary platforms for its customers, for example, Horizon. Horizon is working on the Cloud platform in many countries in Europe (Baumgartner, 2014). If the dynamics of the researches and cooperation with the customer has the stable growth, the company will gain success in the field within the following five years.

Question 3

Liberty Global is interested in buying smaller companies and therefore in the formation of the strongest media organization in Europe. So, the manager of the company has to value this interest of the firm and support it. The search for small digital firms in Europe and worldwide should be the first task for the management. The financial absorption is the way out for both the big companies and the small ones. The first category has a wide geography of users, when the second obtains financial stability and the space for evolution. So, the first important activity of the manager is to provide the directors with relevant financial reports.

Stay Connected

Live Chat Order now

The second step the manager has to do is the monitoring of the global trends in the economy and financial cash flows of Liberty Global PLC. According to the surveys, the media segment will have high rates in the next five years consistently, so the company has a field for future growth and extension. Though, the company has problems with the debt, and it can badly influence its financial stability. So, the third step will be aimed at to reducing the amount of the debt, and stabilizing the company’s position. The forth, but not the least phase of manager’s work, will be the analysis of the competitors and market trends. It is vital, because Liberty Global PLC has the plan to become the world’s biggest media company, and this goal can be achieved only after beating the competitors. If the steps are performed with accuracy and understanding, the following half of the decade will be very successful for the company.

Media drives the evolution process of the whole generation. That clarifies that Liberty Global PLC has chosen the right field for its activity and has all the possibilities to become one of the biggest media conglomerates in the world.