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Segment Reporting | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2019
Segment Reporting, Measurement Disclosures [Abstract] |
Segment Reporting | Segment Reporting We generally identify our reportable segments as (i) those consolidated subsidiaries that represent 10% or more of our revenue, Adjusted OIBDA (as defined below) or total assets or (ii) those equity method affiliates where our investment or share of revenue or Adjusted OIBDA represents 10% or more of our total assets, revenue or Adjusted OIBDA, respectively. In certain cases, we may elect to include an operating segment in our segment disclosure that does not meet the above-described criteria for a reportable segment. We evaluate performance and make decisions about allocating resources to our operating segments based on financial measures such as revenue and Adjusted OIBDA. In addition, we review non-financial measures such as subscriber growth, as appropriate. Adjusted OIBDA is the primary measure used by our chief operating decision maker to evaluate segment operating performance and is also a key factor that is used by our internal decision makers to (i) determine how to allocate resources to segments and (ii) evaluate the effectiveness of our management for purposes of annual and other incentive compensation plans. As we use the term, “Adjusted OIBDA” is defined as operating income before depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation, provisions and provision releases related to significant litigation and impairment, restructuring and other operating items. Other operating items include (a) gains and losses on the disposition of long-lived assets, (b) third-party costs directly associated with successful and unsuccessful acquisitions and dispositions, including legal, advisory and due diligence fees, as applicable, and (c) other acquisition-related items, such as gains and losses on the settlement of contingent consideration. Our internal decision makers believe Adjusted OIBDA is a meaningful measure because it represents a transparent view of our recurring operating performance that is unaffected by our capital structure and allows management to (1) readily view operating trends, (2) perform analytical comparisons and benchmarking between segments and (3) identify strategies to improve operating performance in the different countries in which we operate. A reconciliation of Adjusted OIBDA from continuing operations to earnings (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes is presented below. As of December 31, 2019, our reportable segments are as follows: Consolidated:
• | U.K./Ireland
• | Belgium
• | Switzerland
• | Central and Eastern Europe
Nonconsolidated:
• | VodafoneZiggo JV
All of our reportable segments derive their revenue primarily from residential and B2B communications services, including broadband internet, video, fixed-line telephony and mobile services. Our central and corporate functions (Central and Corporate) primarily include (i) revenue earned from services provided to the VodafoneZiggo JV, (ii) revenue from sales of customer premises equipment to the VodafoneZiggo JV, (iii) costs associated with certain centralized functions, including billing systems, network operations, technology, marketing, facilities, finance and other administrative functions and (iv) less significant consolidated operating segments that provide programming and other services. During the fourth quarter of 2019, we changed the presentation of certain costs related to our centrally-managed technology and innovation function. These costs, which were previously included in Central and Corporate, are now allocated to our consolidated reportable segments. This change, which we refer to as the “Centrally-held Cost Allocation”, was made as a result of internal changes with respect to the way in which our chief operating decision maker evaluates the Adjusted OIBDA of our operating segments. Segment information for all periods presented has been revised to reflect this change. The following table provides a summary of the impact on the Adjusted OIBDA of our consolidated reportable segments and Central and Corporate that resulted from the Centrally-held Cost Allocation.
| Year ended December 31,
| 2019 |  | 2018 |  | 2017
| in millions
Increase (decrease) to Adjusted OIBDA: |  |  |  |  |
U.K./Ireland | $ | (66.6 | ) |  | $ | (61.7 | ) |  | $ | (52.8 | )
Switzerland | (33.0 | ) |  | (36.7 | ) |  | (32.3 | )
Central and Eastern Europe | (14.7 | ) |  | (15.5 | ) |  | (13.4 | )
Central and Corporate | 114.3 |  |  | 113.9 |  |  | 98.5 |
Total Liberty Global | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |
Performance Measures of Our Reportable Segments The amounts presented below represent 100% of each of our reportable segment’s revenue and Adjusted OIBDA. As we have the ability to control Telenet, we consolidate 100% of Telenet’s revenue and expenses in our consolidated statements of operations despite the fact that third parties own a significant interest. The noncontrolling owners’ interests in the operating results of Telenet and other less significant majority-owned subsidiaries are reflected in net earnings or loss attributable to noncontrolling interests in our consolidated statements of operations. Similarly, despite only holding a 50% noncontrolling interest in the VodafoneZiggo JV, we present 100% of its revenue and Adjusted OIBDA in the tables below. Our share of the VodafoneZiggo JV's operating results is included in share of results of affiliates, net, in our consolidated statements of operations.
| Year ended December 31,
| 2019 |  | 2018 |  | 2017
| Revenue |  | Adjusted OIBDA |  | Revenue |  | Adjusted OIBDA (b) |  | Revenue |  | Adjusted OIBDA (b)
| in millions
U.K./Ireland | $ | 6,600.3 |  |  | $ | 2,800.5 |  |  | $ | 6,875.1 |  |  | $ | 2,995.5 |  |  | $ | 6,398.7 |  |  | $ | 2,831.2 |
Belgium | 2,893.0 |  |  | 1,386.1 |  |  | 2,993.6 |  |  | 1,480.0 |  |  | 2,865.3 |  |  | 1,300.3 |
Switzerland | 1,258.8 |  |  | 627.9 |  |  | 1,326.0 |  |  | 712.0 |  |  | 1,370.1 |  |  | 800.3 |
Central and Eastern Europe | 475.4 |  |  | 215.0 |  |  | 492.2 |  |  | 233.6 |  |  | 467.5 |  |  | 220.1 |
Central and Corporate | 316.4 |  |  | (171.1 | ) |  | 274.2 |  |  | (257.8 | ) |  | 189.4 |  |  | (317.3 | )
Intersegment eliminations (a) | (2.4 | ) |  | 1.1 |  |  | (3.2 | ) |  | (11.8 | ) |  | (14.6 | ) |  | (9.5 | )
Total | $ | 11,541.5 |  |  | $ | 4,859.5 |  |  | $ | 11,957.9 |  |  | $ | 5,151.5 |  |  | $ | 11,276.4 |  |  | $ | 4,825.1 |
VodafoneZiggo JV | $ | 4,407.8 |  |  | $ | 1,987.7 |  |  | $ | 4,602.2 |  |  | $ | 2,009.7 |  |  | $ | 4,512.5 |  |  | $ | 1,910.6 |
_______________
(a) | Amounts are related to transactions between our continuing and discontinued operations prior to the disposal dates of such discontinued operations.
(b) | Amounts have been revised to reflect the retrospective impact of the Centrally-held Cost Allocation, as described above.
The following table provides a reconciliation of Adjusted OIBDA from continuing operations to earnings (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes:
| Year ended December 31,
| 2019 |  | 2018 |  | 2017
| in millions
Adjusted OIBDA from continuing operations | $ | 4,859.5 |  |  | $ | 5,151.5 |  |  | $ | 4,825.1 |
Share-based compensation expense | (305.8 | ) |  | (206.0 | ) |  | (162.2 | )
Depreciation and amortization | (3,652.2 | ) |  | (3,858.2 | ) |  | (3,790.6 | )
Impairment, restructuring and other operating items, net | (156.0 | ) |  | (248.2 | ) |  | (79.9 | )
Operating income | 745.5 |  |  | 839.1 |  |  | 792.4 |
Interest expense | (1,385.9 | ) |  | (1,478.7 | ) |  | (1,416.1 | )
Realized and unrealized gains (losses) on derivative instruments, net | (192.0 | ) |  | 1,125.8 |  |  | (1,052.8 | )
Foreign currency transaction gains (losses), net | (94.8 | ) |  | 90.4 |  |  | (181.5 | )
Realized and unrealized gains (losses) due to changes in fair values of certain investments and debt, net | 72.0 |  |  | (384.5 | ) |  | 43.4 |
Losses on debt modification and extinguishment, net | (216.7 | ) |  | (65.0 | ) |  | (252.2 | )
Share of results of affiliates, net | (198.5 | ) |  | (8.7 | ) |  | (95.2 | )
Other income, net | 114.4 |  |  | 43.4 |  |  | 50.9 |
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes | $ | (1,156.0 | ) |  | $ | 161.8 |  |  | $ | (2,111.1 | )
Balance Sheet Data of our Reportable Segments Selected balance sheet data of our reportable segments is set forth below:
| Long-lived assets |  | Total assets
| December 31, |  | December 31,
| 2019 |  | 2018 |  | 2019 |  | 2018
| in millions
U.K./Ireland | $ | 16,170.9 |  |  | $ | 16,254.6 |  |  | $ | 20,665.5 |  |  | $ | 20,702.5 |
Belgium | 5,910.3 |  |  | 5,979.4 |  |  | 7,148.2 |  |  | 6,972.1 |
Switzerland | 4,247.7 |  |  | 4,165.4 |  |  | 4,647.8 |  |  | 4,496.0 |
Central and Eastern Europe | 1,062.2 |  |  | 1,087.4 |  |  | 1,135.2 |  |  | 1,130.8 |
Central and Corporate | 1,079.6 |  |  | 1,142.2 |  |  | 15,449.6 |  |  | 9,321.1 |
Total - continuing operations | $ | 28,470.7 |  |  | $ | 28,629.0 |  |  | $ | 49,046.3 |  |  | $ | 42,622.5 |
VodafoneZiggo JV | $ | 20,674.8 |  |  | $ | 22,026.2 |  |  | $ | 22,426.5 |  |  | $ | 23,255.3 |
Property and Equipment Additions of our Reportable Segments The property and equipment additions of our reportable segments (including capital additions financed under vendor financing or finance lease arrangements) are presented below and reconciled to the capital expenditure amounts included in our consolidated statements of cash flows. For additional information concerning capital additions financed under vendor financing and finance lease arrangements, see notes 10 and 12, respectively.
| Year ended December 31,
| 2019 |  | 2018 |  | 2017
| in millions
U.K./Ireland | $ | 1,578.0 |  |  | $ | 1,988.9 |  |  | $ | 2,161.8 |
Belgium | 537.2 |  |  | 790.8 |  |  | 691.0 |
Switzerland | 277.9 |  |  | 249.6 |  |  | 244.4 |
Central and Eastern Europe | 107.0 |  |  | 152.8 |  |  | 158.2 |
Central and Corporate (a) | 380.4 |  |  | 523.5 |  |  | 448.1 |
Total property and equipment additions | 2,880.5 |  |  | 3,705.6 |  |  | 3,703.5 |
Assets acquired under capital-related vendor financing arrangements | (1,727.0 | ) |  | (2,175.5 | ) |  | (2,336.2 | )
Assets acquired under finance leases | (66.9 | ) |  | (102.4 | ) |  | (106.7 | )
Changes in current liabilities related to capital expenditures | 156.5 |  |  | 25.3 |  |  | (10.6 | )
Total capital expenditures, net | $ | 1,243.1 |  |  | $ | 1,453.0 |  |  | $ | 1,250.0 |
Capital expenditures, net: |  |  |  |  |
Third-party payments | $ | 1,323.9 |  |  | $ | 1,552.7 |  |  | $ | 1,586.5 |
Proceeds received for transfers to related parties (b) | (80.8 | ) |  | (99.7 | ) |  | (336.5 | )
Total capital expenditures, net | $ | 1,243.1 |  |  | $ | 1,453.0 |  |  | $ | 1,250.0 |
Property and equipment additions - VodafoneZiggo JV | $ | 887.9 |  |  | $ | 988.7 |  |  | $ | 933.9 |
_______________
(a) | Includes (i) property and equipment additions representing centrally-owned assets that benefit our operating segments and (ii) the net impact of certain centrally-procured network equipment that is ultimately transferred to our operating segments.
(b) | Primarily relates to transfers of centrally-procured property and equipment to our discontinued operations and the VodafoneZiggo JV.
Revenue by Major Category Our revenue by major category for our consolidated reportable segments is set forth below:
| Year ended December 31,
| 2019 |  | 2018 |  | 2017
| in millions
Residential revenue: |  |  |  |  |
Residential cable revenue (a): |  |  |  |  |
Subscription revenue (b): |  |  |  |  |
Broadband internet | $ | 3,187.4 |  |  | $ | 3,226.6 |  |  | $ | 2,979.7 |
Video | 2,723.9 |  |  | 2,863.2 |  |  | 2,786.5 |
Fixed-line telephony | 1,413.2 |  |  | 1,607.8 |  |  | 1,599.8 |
Total subscription revenue | 7,324.5 |  |  | 7,697.6 |  |  | 7,366.0 |
Non-subscription revenue | 198.1 |  |  | 279.1 |  |  | 343.6 |
Total residential cable revenue | 7,522.6 |  |  | 7,976.7 |  |  | 7,709.6 |
Residential mobile revenue (c): |  |  |  |  |
Subscription revenue (b) | 932.1 |  |  | 983.5 |  |  | 999.7 |
Non-subscription revenue | 688.2 |  |  | 694.8 |  |  | 607.1 |
Total residential mobile revenue | 1,620.3 |  |  | 1,678.3 |  |  | 1,606.8 |
Total residential revenue | 9,142.9 |  |  | 9,655.0 |  |  | 9,316.4 |
B2B revenue (d): |  |  |  |  |
Subscription revenue | 472.5 |  |  | 446.4 |  |  | 367.6 |
Non-subscription revenue | 1,441.5 |  |  | 1,537.1 |  |  | 1,372.5 |
Total B2B revenue | 1,914.0 |  |  | 1,983.5 |  |  | 1,740.1 |
Other revenue (e) | 484.6 |  |  | 319.4 |  |  | 219.9 |
Total | $ | 11,541.5 |  |  | $ | 11,957.9 |  |  | $ | 11,276.4 |
_______________
(a) | Residential cable subscription revenue includes amounts received from subscribers for ongoing services and the recognition of deferred installation revenue over the associated contract period. Residential cable non-subscription revenue includes, among other items, channel carriage fees, late fees and revenue from the sale of equipment. As described in note 2, we adopted ASU 2014-09 on January 1, 2018 using the cumulative effect transition method. For periods subsequent to our adoption of ASU 2014-09, installation revenue is generally deferred and recognized over the contractual period as residential cable subscription revenue. For periods prior to the adoption of ASU 2014-09, installation revenue is included in residential cable non-subscription revenue.
(b) | Residential subscription revenue from subscribers who purchase bundled services at a discounted rate is generally allocated proportionally to each service based on the standalone price for each individual service. As a result, changes in the standalone pricing of our cable and mobile products or the composition of bundles can contribute to changes in our product revenue categories from period to period.
(c) | Residential mobile subscription revenue includes amounts received from subscribers for ongoing services. Residential mobile non-subscription revenue includes, among other items, interconnect revenue and revenue from sales of mobile handsets and other devices.
(d) | B2B subscription revenue represents revenue from services to certain small or home office (SOHO) subscribers. SOHO subscribers pay a premium price to receive expanded service levels along with broadband internet, video, fixed-line telephony or mobile services that are the same or similar to the mass marketed products offered to our residential subscribers. B2B non-subscription revenue includes revenue from business broadband internet, video, fixed-line telephony, mobile and data services offered to medium to large enterprises and, on a wholesale basis, to other operators.
(e) | Other revenue includes, among other items, (i) revenue earned from the JV Services and the sale of customer premises equipment to the VodafoneZiggo JV, (ii) revenue earned from transitional and other services provided to various third parties and (iii) broadcasting revenue in Ireland.
Geographic Segments The revenue of our geographic segments is set forth below:
| Year ended December 31,
| 2019 |  | 2018 |  | 2017
| in millions
U.K. | $ | 6,086.2 |  |  | $ | 6,351.2 |  |  | $ | 5,927.9 |
Belgium | 2,893.0 |  |  | 2,993.6 |  |  | 2,865.3 |
Switzerland | 1,258.8 |  |  | 1,326.0 |  |  | 1,370.1 |
Ireland | 514.1 |  |  | 523.9 |  |  | 470.8 |
Poland | 425.7 |  |  | 440.7 |  |  | 417.9 |
Slovakia | 49.7 |  |  | 51.5 |  |  | 49.6 |
Other, including intersegment eliminations | 314.0 |  |  | 271.0 |  |  | 174.8 |
Total | $ | 11,541.5 |  |  | $ | 11,957.9 |  |  | $ | 11,276.4 |
VodafoneZiggo JV (the Netherlands) | $ | 4,407.8 |  |  | $ | 4,602.2 |  |  | $ | 4,512.5 |
The long-lived assets of our geographic segments are set forth below:
| December 31,
| 2019 |  | 2018
| in millions
U.K. | $ | 15,422.4 |  |  | $ | 15,489.2 |
Belgium | 5,910.3 |  |  | 5,979.4 |
Switzerland | 4,247.7 |  |  | 4,165.4 |
Poland | 937.0 |  |  | 958.7 |
Ireland | 748.5 |  |  | 765.4 |
Slovakia | 125.2 |  |  | 128.7 |
U.S. and other (a) | 1,079.6 |  |  | 1,142.2 |
Total | $ | 28,470.7 |  |  | $ | 28,629.0 |
VodafoneZiggo JV (the Netherlands) | $ | 20,674.8 |  |  | $ | 22,026.2 |
_______________ (a) Primarily relates to certain long-lived assets included in Central and Corporate.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for reporting segments including data and tables. Reportable segments include those that meet any of the following quantitative thresholds a) it's reported revenue, including sales to external customers and intersegment sales or transfers is 10 percent or more of the combined revenue, internal and external, of all operating segments b) the absolute amount of its reported profit or loss is 10 percent or more of the greater, in absolute amount of 1) the combined reported profit of all operating segments that did not report a loss or 2) the combined reported loss of all operating segments that did report a loss c) its assets are 10 percent or more of the combined assets of all operating segments. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2134510 + Details
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