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Liberty Global Q2 revenue up by 5.% to $2.52 bn
MUMBAI: International cable company Liberty Global has reported a 5.2 per cent jump in revenue to $2.52 billion for the second quarter ended 30 June.
Operating Cash Flow was $1.19 billion, reflecting rebased growth of 2.5 per cent. Operating income decreased by three per cent to $479 million. Adjusted Free Cash Flow increased by 24 per cent to $186 million.
Liberty Global has added over 800,000 RGUs during the first six months of the year, reflecting strong demand for our market-leading, triple-play bundles.
Liberty Global president, CEO Mike Fries said, “These gains helped drive our second consecutive quarter of more than five per cent rebased revenue growth. As we expected, rebased OCF growth was modestly below our first quarter result at 2.5 per cent for Q2, which should represent the low point for the year. We remain committed to driving free cash flow growth, with Adjusted FCF increasing 19 per cent year-to-date to $466 million compared to the same period last year.”
Providing guidance for the full year, the company said that as it moved into Q3 and Q4, it expected to generate accelerating rebased OCF growth due largely to the strong volume growth achieved during the first six months, as well as margin expansion in Germany.
“Product innovation remains a core focus of ours as we strengthen our leadership position in digital video products and services. We intend to roll out our next-generation Horizon video platform in the Dutch market next month, followed by Switzerland in Q4. On the wireless front, we launched our 4G mobile service in Chile in mid-May. Although it’s still early, we are very encouraged by the traction that we are getting from existing, as well as new customers,” said Fries.
Also, having added nearly 30,000 wireless subscribers in the first six months, the company expects to see customer take-up accelerate.
The company was engaged in several merger and acquisition activities during the second quarter. First, it closed the sale of its interest in Australian business, Austar, in late May, generating roughly $1.1 billion in proceeds.
Subsequently, Liberty announced an agreement to create the leading cable operator in Puerto Rico by combining OneLink’s and its own cable operations into a joint venture that gives the entity control and consolidation with a 60 per cent majority interest.
“We are also pleased to report that our integration in Germany is proceeding on track with a new management team in place since July 1, combining the best of Unitymedia and KBW,” Fries said.
Liberty‘s consolidated liquidity position stands at approximately $4.0 billion, including $1.9 billion of cash and cash equivalents. “This gives us ample capital to deploy into high return investment opportunities, including acquisitions and our stock buyback program. As of June 30, we had repurchased approximately $430 million of equity this year and remain committed to completing our $1 billion target for 2012,” Fries stated.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
