EP 22 | European Heat, Dry Rivers, and Virgin Media's 22 Billion Question

So VMED.

Virgin Media.

I know, to the credit heads, this is a thing.

Okay, we're making credit heads a thing.

It's got a 22 billion cap stack.

It's got nearest maturities in 2029.

But given its sizable debt pile, I think many people are a bit worried that it potentially could be like Altice.

Okay.

VMED has had a few eyebrow raising moments, which Katie's going to talk us through.

But I think it can be greatly distinguished from Altice.

Yes, it's been a rough couple weeks for VMED.

It's UK's second largest telecoms operator.

It's a joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefonica.

There's a £500 million senior unsecured note in there due 2030.

And that dropped down into the low 60s about 10 points after Q2 earnings came out.

Deeply distressed.

It wasn't really about headline numbers.

It was more about a much weaker than expected fixed broadband quarter.

So they've lost close to 30,000 subscribers.

But I think it's story probably.

It's kind of a lead up to that.

So they've had about 5% to 6% year-over-year revenue decline over the last five quarters.

And this is driven by the fact that they haven't been able to install these fibers quicker enough than their competitors, basically.

Their rollout speed's been

tortoise-like.