Liberty Broadband Corp (LBRDK) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to Liberty Broadband 2025 Q1 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference will be recorded, May 7. I would now like to turn the call over to Shane Kleinstein, SDP and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

歡迎參加 Liberty Broadband 2025 Q1 收益電話會議。（操作員指示）提醒一下，本次會議將於 5 月 7 日進行錄音。現在我想將電話轉給 SDP 和投資者關係部的 Shane Kleinstein。請繼續。

Thank you and good morning. Before we begin, we'd like to remind everyone that this call includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual events or results could differ materially due to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those mentioned in the most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q filed by Liberty Broadband with the SEC.

謝謝，早安。在我們開始之前，我們想提醒大家，本次電話會議包含 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》所定義的某些前瞻性陳述。由於多種風險和不確定因素，實際事件或結果可能存在重大差異，包括 Liberty Broadband 向美國證券交易委員會提交的最新 10-K 和 10-Q 表格中提到的風險和不確定因素。

These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this call, and Liberty Broadband expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in Liberty Broadband's expectations with regard there to or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

這些前瞻性陳述僅代表本次電話會議之日的觀點，Liberty Broadband 明確表示不承擔任何義務或承諾傳播本文所含任何前瞻性陳述的任何更新或修訂，以反映 Liberty Broadband 對此的預期發生的任何變化或此類陳述所依據的事件、條件或情況的任何變化。

On today's call, we'll discuss certain non-gap financial measures for Liberty Broadband. Including addressed depth. Information regarding the comparable GAAP metrics, along with required definitions and reconciliations, including Schedule one and Schedule two, can be found in the earnings press release issued today, as well as earnings releases for prior periods which are available on Liberty Broadband's website.

在今天的電話會議上，我們將討論 Liberty Broadband 的某些無差距財務措施。包括解決深度。有關可比較 GAAP 指標的資訊以及所需的定義和對帳（包括附表一和附表二）可在今天發布的收益新聞稿中找到，也可在 Liberty Broadband 網站上找到前期的收益報告。

Today speaking on the call, we have Liberty Broadband's Chief Accounting Officer and Principal Financial Officer Brian Wendling; Liberty's Executive Vice President and Treasurer Ben Oren; Ronald Duncan is the President, CEO, and Co-Founder of GCI Liberty following its spinoff from Liberty Broadband. Peter Pounds, CFO of GCI, and members of Liberty Management will be available to answer questions.

今天參加電話會議的有 Liberty Broadband 的首席會計官兼首席財務官 Brian Wendling；Liberty 的執行副總裁兼財務主管 Ben Oren；Ronald Duncan 是 GCI Liberty 的總裁、首席執行官兼聯合創始人，GCI Liberty 是從 Liberty Broadband 分拆出來的。GCI 財務長 Peter Pounds 和 Liberty Management 的成員將解答問題。

Now I'd like to turn the call over to Brian Wendling.

現在我想把電話轉給 Brian Wendling。

Thank you, Shane, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝你，肖恩，大家早安。

Today we will provide a brief update on pending acquisition by Charter of Liberty Broadband before turning to the results of the GCI business and then opening up for Q&A.

今天，我們將簡要介紹自由憲章寬頻即將進行的收購，然後介紹 GCI 業務的結果，並開始問答環節。

The acquisition of Liberty Broadband by Charter was approved by Liberty and Charter shareholders on February 26. The transaction is expected to close on June 30, 2027, unless otherwise agreed.

2 月 26 日，Charter 收購 Liberty Broadband 的交易已獲得 Liberty 和 Charter 股東的批准。除非另有約定，該交易預計將於 2027 年 6 月 30 日完成。

Liberty Broadband remains on track to complete the spinoff of the GCI business this summer. Yesterday we filed the amended S1, so we're working through the SEC process.

Liberty Broadband 仍有望在今年夏天完成 GCI 業務的剝離。昨天我們提交了修改後的 S1，因此我們正在完成 SEC 流程。

And once the GCI spinoff is complete, we expect GCI Liberty Management led by Ronald Duncan with the support of our team, will conduct a separate earnings process and we will no longer conduct a Liberty Broadband earnings conference call.

一旦 GCI 分拆完成，我們預計由 Ronald Duncan 領導的 GCI Liberty Management 將在我們團隊的支持下進行單獨的收益流程，並且我們將不再舉行 Liberty Broadband 收益電話會議。

GCI Liberty plans to host a virtual investor event prior to the spinoff to provide additional information on the GCI business. If you are interested in joining, please reach out to the Liberty IR team.

GCI Liberty 計劃在分拆之前舉辦一場虛擬投資者活動，以提供有關 GCI 業務的更多資訊。如果您有興趣加入，請聯絡 Liberty IR 團隊。

And with that, I'm honoured to turn the call over to Ben Oren to go through the balance sheet.

至此，我很榮幸地將電話轉給本‧奧倫 (Ben Oren) 來審閱資產負債表。

Thanks, Brian. At quarter end, Liberty Broadband had consolidated cash and restricted cash of $565 million which includes $149 million of cash and restricted cash at GCI.

謝謝，布萊恩。截至本季末，Liberty Broadband 的合併現金和受限現金為 5.65 億美元，其中包括 GCI 的 1.49 億美元現金和受限現金。

There were $338 million of restricted cash at Liberty Broadband as of quarter end, representing proceeds from charter share sales to be used towards debt service.

截至本季末，Liberty Broadband 的受限現金為 3.38 億美元，代表特許股份銷售所得，將用於償還債務。

Reminder that the exchange ratio is fixed in the Charter and Liberty Broadband transaction, essentially creating a lockbox structure between the two companies until transaction close.

提醒一下，Charter 和 Liberty Broadband 交易中的兌換率是固定的，本質上是在兩家公司之間創建一個鎖箱結構，直到交易結束。

Tax-free proceeds from charter share sales are going to delivering at Liberty Broadband until transaction close as well.

特許股份銷售的免稅收益也將在交易結束前交付給 Liberty Broadband。

In March, at the request of Charter, Liberty Broadband issued a redemption notice for all of its 3.125% debentures due in 2054 for cash, which were either redeemed in April 2025 or exchanged and are expected to be cash settled in May 2025.

今年3月，應Charter的要求，Liberty Broadband發出了對其所有2054年到期的3.125%債券的贖回通知，以現金贖回，這些債券要么在2025年4月贖回，要么進行交換，預計將於2025年5月以現金結算。

In March, GCI refinanced its senior credit facility with a $450 million revolver that matures in 2030 and a $300 million term loan A that matures in 2031.

今年 3 月，GCI 對其高級信貸額度進行了再融資，一筆是 2030 年到期的 4.5 億美元循環信貸，另一筆是 2031 年到期的 3 億美元定期貸款 A。

At quarter end, GCI's leverage as defined by its credit agreement was 2.8 times, and GCI's credit facility had $292 million of undrawn capacity net of letters of credit.

截至本季末，GCI 的信貸協議所定義的槓桿率為 2.8 倍，GCI 的信貸額度扣除信用狀後尚有 2.92 億美元的未提取額度。

The value of our charter investment based on $44.2 million shares held as of May 1, and charter share price at yesterday's close was $17.8 billion.

我們的特許投資價值基於截至 5 月 1 日持有的 4,420 萬美元股票以及昨日收盤時的特許股價，為 178 億美元。

At quarter end, Liberty Broadband had a total principal amount of debt of $3.7 billion. Note this excludes preferred stock.

截至本季末，Liberty Broadband 的債務本金總額為 37 億美元。請注意，這不包括優先股。

I'll now turn the call over to Ronald Duncan to walk through the operating results of GCI.

現在我將把電話轉給羅納德‧鄧肯 (Ronald Duncan)，讓他介紹 GCI 的經營績效。

Thanks, Ben. The first quarter of 2025 was GCI's best quarter ever with revenue of $266 million and adjusted a bit of $111 million up 9% and 23% respectively over the prior year.

謝謝，本。2025 年第一季是 GCI 有史以來最好的季度，營收為 2.66 億美元，調整後利潤為 1.11 億美元，分別比上年增長 9% 和 23%。

Adjusted but our margin was 42%. Growth was driven primarily by data revenue and businesses, which benefited from the continued strong upgrade cycle in school and healthcare services in rural Alaska, which began in the third quarter of 2024.

經過調整，但我們的利潤率為 42%。成長主要由數據收入和業務推動，受益於 2024 年第三季開始的阿拉斯加農村地區學校和醫療保健服務持續強勁的升級週期。

The first quarter included a $4 million benefit arising from the successful appeal of rates for services provided to certain healthcare customers in prior years.

第一季包括一筆 400 萬美元的收益，該收益來自於對前幾年為某些醫療保健客戶提供的服務費率的成功上訴。

Over the last year, adjusted for the reclassification from GCI business, GCI consumer experienced the decline of 400 wireless subs and the decline of 5,000 cable modem customers. The decline in wireless was a result of postpaid growth being offset by losses in pre-paid and Lifeline. The declining cable modem subscribers relates primarily to the termination of the ACP program in 2024.

去年，根據 GCI 業務的重新分類進行調整後，GCI 消費者業務的無線用戶減少了 400 人，有線數據機用戶減少了 5,000 人。無線業務的下滑是由於後付費業務的成長被預付費業務和 Lifeline 業務的損失所抵消。有線調變解調器使用者數量的下降主要與 2024 年 ACP 計畫的終止有關。

Operating expenses declined during the quarter due to lower distribution costs for healthcare, education, and consumer customers, partially related to temporary cost savings from a fibre break on a third-party network where GCI uses capacity.

本季營運費用下降，原因是醫療保健、教育和消費者客戶的分銷成本降低，部分原因是 GCI 使用容量的第三方網路光纖中斷導致的暫時成本節省。

On January 18, the Quintillion fibre under the ice in the Beaufort Sea failed for the second time in three years. This disrupted traffic for GCI's consumer and enterprise customers. Working in cooperation with Quintillion, our networks have been partially restored through a combination of Leo satellite capacity and a rerouting of existing fibre and microwave connections.

1 月 18 日，波弗特海冰層下的 Quintillion 光纖三年內第二次發生故障。這擾亂了 GCI 消費者和企業客戶的流量。透過與 Quintillion 合作，我們的網路透過結合 Leo 衛星容量以及現有光纖和微波連接的重新路由得到了部分恢復。

Most of our wholesale and enterprise services were restored quickly after the outage. Consumer services have been partially restored, but consumers will unfortunately experience substantially degraded service until the quintillion fibre break is repaired, which is expected to be late this summer.

中斷後，我們的大部分批發和企業服務都迅速恢復。消費者服務已部分恢復，但不幸的是，在光纖斷裂修復之前（預計在今年夏末），消費者將體驗到服務品質的大幅下降。

As Ben mentioned, GCI refinanced its credit facility this quarter, extending maturity to attractive rates. This provides us with good liquidity, and our next meaningful maturity is in October 2028, when the bonds come due.

正如 Ben 所提到的，GCI 本季對其信貸額度進行了再融資，將期限延長至有吸引力的利率。這為我們提供了良好的流動性，我們的下一個有意義的到期日是2028年10月，屆時債券將到期。

GCI spent $49 million on CapEx in the first quarter net of grant proceeds. Net CapEx for 2025 is expected to be $250 million related to investments in middle and last mile connectivity in rural Alaska. Capital spending is elevated in 2025 and expected to remain elevated in 2026 as we fulfil build-out requirements under the Alaska plan. Historically, CapEx has been 15% to 20% of revenue, which we will expect, which we expect will be consistent in future years after Alaska plan requirements are satisfied.

GCI 第一季的資本支出（扣除補助金收益）為 4,900 萬美元。2025 年的淨資本支出預計為 2.5 億美元，用於投資阿拉斯加農村地區的中途和最後一英里的連接。隨著我們滿足阿拉斯加計畫下的建設要求，2025 年的資本支出將會增加，預計 2026 年仍將保持在高位。從歷史上看，資本支出佔收入的 15% 到 20%，我們預計，在滿足阿拉斯加計畫要求後，未來幾年這一比例將保持一致。

Turning to updates on Universal Service Fund matters, on March 26, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case challenging the constitutionality of the Universal Service Fund. We continue to believe the government, which is defending the fund, has a solid position.

關於普遍服務基金事宜的最新進展，3 月 26 日，最高法院聽取了質疑普遍服務基金合憲性的案件的口頭辯論。我們仍然相信，捍衛基金的政府立場堅定。

Additionally, we've been working with industry groups and legislators on potential legislative solutions that could be enacted in the event of an adverse ruling from the Supreme Court. We are preparing contingency plans to enable GCI to react to a range of potential Supreme Court rulings.

此外，我們一直在與行業團體和立法者合作，研究在最高法院做出不利裁決的情況下可以實施的潛在立法解決方案。我們正在製定應急計劃，以使 GCI 能夠對一系列可能的最高法院裁決做出反應。

I'll close today with an exciting update for our business and the customers we serve. On Tuesday, April 15, GCI completed a major milestone in remote Alaska. We connected Bethel, the largest community in western Alaska, with fibre all the way from Anchorage.

今天，我將以一個關於我們的業務和我們服務的客戶令人興奮的最新消息來結束今天的演講。4 月 15 日星期二，GCI 在偏遠的阿拉斯加完成了一項重要里程碑。我們將光纖從安克雷奇一路連接到阿拉斯加西部最大的社區伯特利。

15 years ago, Bethel was limited to 2G wireless and satellite delivered data services. More recently, the Bethel community had caps on wireless usage, and the fastest broadband speed was 10 megabits with a usage cap of 200 gigs a month.

15 年前，Bethel 僅限於 2G 無線和衛星傳輸資料服務。最近，伯特利社群對無線使用量進行了限制，最快的寬頻速度為 10 兆比特，每月使用量上限為 200 千兆位元。

We expect to launch residential services this May, at which point, Bethel residents will have access to a 5G wireless network and 2.5 gigabits unlimited broadband service under the same pricing plans as Anchorage. We believe this will be transformational for the community and is a major accomplishment in our 45-year effort to connect Alaska. I'm proud of the diligence, resilience, and hard work put in by so many at GCI to make this a reality.

我們預計今年 5 月推出住宅服務，屆時，伯特利居民將可以按照與安克雷奇相同的定價計劃使用 5G 無線網路和 2.5 千兆無限寬頻服務。我們相信這將為社區帶來變革，也是我們 45 年來連結阿拉斯加努力的重大成就。我為 GCI 眾多員工為實現這一目標所付出的勤奮、韌性和努力感到自豪。

I look forward to speaking with many of you in the coming quarters once the spinoff of GCI Liberty takes place, if not sooner. We appreciate your interest in both Liberty Broadband and GCI and with that operator, we'll open the call up to questions.

一旦 GCI Liberty 分拆完成，我期待在未來幾季與你們中的許多人進行交談，甚至更早。我們感謝您對 Liberty Broadband 和 GCI 的關注，我們將透過該運營商的電話來回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Kutgun Maral, Evercore ISI.

（操作員指示）Kutgun Maral，Evercore ISI。

Great, thanks for taking the questions. A few on GCI, first, a number of cable companies have, or they're in the process of somewhat reimagining their strategies, whether it's broadening the product portfolio's or needing to shift some of their go to market and pricing strategies given growing competitive intensity.

太好了，感謝您回答這些問題。首先，關於 GCI，許多有線電視公司已經或正在重新規劃他們的策略，無論是擴大產品組合，還是需要改變一些行銷和定價策略，因為競爭日益激烈。

I know GCI is not a typical cable company and that the competitive dynamics in Alaska are a bit different than what we see in other markets, but as investors dig into the GCI with the opportunity, maybe you could help us think about the business and whether you might see a need to shift the broader operating and pricing strategy, or is there really no need in the near future, given the current momentum that you have and the outlook that you see ahead.

我知道 GCI 不是一家典型的有線電視公司，阿拉斯加的競爭態勢與我們在其他市場看到的略有不同，但隨著投資者抓住機會深入 GCI，也許您可以幫助我們思考一下這項業務，以及您是否認為有必要改變更廣泛的運營和定價策略，或者考慮到您目前的發展勢頭和對未來的展望，在不久的將來是否真的沒有必要。

And secondly, I think you asked this last quarter as well, but are you seeing any changes in consumer business customer behaviours due to the ongoing macro uncertainty more broadly, or have trends remained relatively stable given the different profile of the Alaskan market and economy?

其次，我想您在上個季度也問過這個問題，但是，由於宏觀不確定性的持續存在，您是否看到消費者商業客戶行為發生了任何變化，或者考慮到阿拉斯加市場和經濟的不同狀況，趨勢是否保持相對穩定？

Thank you.

謝謝。

Okay, let me take those in reverse order and deal with any changes in behaviour first. We're pretty much seeing a flat marketplace.

好的，讓我按相反的順序來處理這些，首先處理行為上的任何變化。我們看到的市場基本上處於平穩狀態。

We're seeing a little bit of competition from Starlink around the edges. I think that's probably our equivalent of the fixed wireless competition that Companies in the lower 48 are experiencing, but no real changes on the broadband front and slow but steady growth on the consumer wireless front. With respect to the broader strategy, it's important to remember how much of GCI is really enterprise services.

我們看到來自 Starlink 的邊緣地帶存在一些競爭。我認為這可能相當於美國本土 48 個州的公司正在經歷的固定無線競爭，但寬頻方面沒有真正的變化，消費者無線方面則緩慢但穩定地增長。就更廣泛的策略而言，重要的是要記住 GCI 有多少實際上是企業服務。

Consumer services are the minority of the company's revenue and OIBDA, the bulk of the company's revenue and OIBDA come from Enterprise services provided to healthcare corporations and schools in rural Alaska and the largest enterprise customers in the state.

消費者服務只占公司收入和 OIBDA 的一小部分，公司收入和 OIBDA 的大部分來自為阿拉斯加農村地區的醫療保健公司和學校以及該州最大的企業客戶提供的企業服務。

On the consumer market front, we are in tune with the rest of the industry looking at ways to both differentiate and further solidify the customer.

在消費市場方面，我們與業內其他公司保持一致，尋找差異化和進一步鞏固客戶的方法。

Proposition that's received by GCI. We've been very heavily focused, like lower 48 com companies on bundling wireless with broadband. We're a little different than the lower 48 in that we own our own wireless network.

GCI 收到的提案。我們像 48 家本土公司一樣，高度重視無線與寬頻的捆綁。我們與美國本土 48 州稍有不同，因為我們擁有自己的無線網路。

We're not an MVNO, we're an MNO. And we're right now re-evaluating our pricing and product mix to see what we could do to increase the stickiness for customers, but we haven't experienced the level of competition that companies in the lower 48 have, and we're probably not as advanced as they are in terms of fully integrated packages of services that go beyond just the wireless and the broadband that we're moving in that direction.

我們不是 MVNO，我們是 MNO。我們目前正在重新評估我們的定價和產品組合，看看我們可以做些什麼來增加客戶的粘性，但我們還沒有經歷過美國本土 48 個州的公司所面臨的那種競爭水平，而且在完全集成的服務包方面，我們可能不如他們先進，這些服務包不僅僅是無線和寬頻，我們正在朝著這個方向發展。

That's very helpful. Thank you.

這非常有幫助。謝謝。

Thank you, Kutgun. With that is our one question for today. We thank you for your continued interest in Liberty Broadband and GCI Liberty, and we look forward to speaking with you more on GCI Liberty in the near future.

謝謝你，庫特根。這就是我們今天的一個問題。感謝您對 Liberty Broadband 和 GCI Liberty 的持續關注，我們期待在不久的將來與您就 GCI Liberty 進行更多交流。

This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的電話會議到此結束。現在您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。