Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. ($TLEVISACPO)

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Grupo Televisa's First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Before we begin, I would like to draw your attention to the press release, which explains the use of forward-looking statements and applies to everything we discuss in today's call and in the earnings release. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Alfonso de Angoitia, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Grupo Televisa. Thank you, and over to you.

Thank you, Elsa. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. With me today are Francisco Valim, CEO of Cable and Sky; and Carlos Phillips, CFO of Grupo Televisa. Before discussing our first quarter operating and financial performance, let me remind you of the strategic priorities approved by the Board of Directors of Grupo Televisa and TelevisaUnivision that we will pursue this year. At Grupo Televisa, we will continue to focus on attracting and retaining value customers to keep growing our Internet subscriber base throughout this year, extract further synergies from the integration between Izzi and Sky, execute on the implementation of OpEx and CapEx efficiencies and upgrade 6 million homes to FTTH technology, ending 2026 with 75% of our total footprint passed with FTTH. Efficiency measures implemented over the last couple of years have already contributed to expanding our consolidated operating segment income margin by around 330 basis points in the first quarter, driven by a year-on-year OpEx reduction of around 8%, and we would expect to sustain profitability above 40% over the coming quarters. And at TelevisaUnivision, now that our direct-to-consumer business, ViX, represents over 20% of consolidated revenue and EBITDA, we are confident that additional value can be unlocked through further integration and operational optimization of our content business. Despite anticipated headwinds in the U.S. from the cyclical timing of events such as the Winter Olympics and FIFA World Cup, we preserved our audience ratings and managed yields to drive pricing growth. We also expanded our political sales infrastructure to ensure that we are well positioned to capitalize on record political advertising spend ahead of the November midterm elections. In Mexico, the great results of our upfront position us well to continue monetizing the FIFA World Cup momentum with sales to date exceeding the prior 2022 World Cup cycle. Having said that, let me turn the call over to Valim as he will discuss the operating and financial performance of our consolidated assets.

Thank you, Alfonso. Good morning, everyone. First, let me walk you through the operating and financial performance of our cable operations. We ended March with a network of 20 million homes after passing around 12,000 new homes during the quarter. In addition, we upgraded over 1.5 million homes to fiber-to-the-home technology, ending the first quarter with over 52% of our total footprint passed with FTTH. Moreover, we are on track to upgrade another 4.5 million homes to FTTH technology in the remainder of the year. In the first quarter, our monthly churn rate remained below our historical average of 2% for fourth consecutive quarter as we keep executing our strategy to focus on value customers rather than volume, while working on customer retention and satisfaction. Our broadband gross adds remained solid, allowing us to deliver 35,000 (sic) [ 25,000 ] net adds during the first quarter, in line with our fourth quarter of last year. In video, we experienced less cancellations than in the fourth quarter of last year. Therefore, we lost about 24,000 video subscribers in the first quarter compared to 31,000 disconnections in the fourth quarter and 43,000 cancellations in the third quarter, 53,000 disconnections in the second quarter and a loss of 73,000 video subscribers in the first quarter of 2025. Furthermore, as we mentioned in our previous earnings conference call, we expect lower video cancellation numbers to continue going forward, influenced by our multiyear partnership with Formula 1 to provide live coverage of all Grand Prix via Sky Sports channels available through Izzi and Sky beginning in the fourth quarter of last year and through the 2028 season. Moving on, our mobile net adds of 95,000 subscribers during the first quarter maintained the strong momentum of the last couple of quarters. Our MVNO service has been making our bundles more competitive, allowing us to increase share of wallet from our existing customers and helping us maintaining low churn. During the quarter, net revenue from our residential operations of MXN 10.6 billion, which accounts for around 89% of total cable revenue, increased by 0.9% year-on-year. This marks the best quarter of the last 2 years of our residential operations from a revenue growth performance standpoint and compares well to a full year revenue decline of 1.8% and 2.5% in 2025 and 2024, respectively. On a sequential basis, net revenue from our residential operations grew by 0.5%, signaling a gradual sequential recovery as well. Net revenue from our enterprise operations of MXN 1.3 billion, which accounted for around 11% of total cable revenue increased by 30% year-on-year, partially due to the timing of revenue recognition of an important contract signed in the fourth quarter of 2025 and because of easy comps. Adjusting this contract, net revenue from our enterprise operations grew by 15.6% as we have been signaling new deals with public and private customers. Moving on to Sky's operating and financial performance. During the first quarter, we lost 325,000 revenue-generating units, mostly coming from prepaid subscribers that have not been recharging their services. In addition, as we have discussed in the past, beginning in the second quarter of last year, we started charging installation fee of MXN 1,250 to all new satellite pay-TV subscribers to increase the return on investment for this service. This translates in a slowdown in video gross add additions for Sky that has been steady over the last 4 quarters. Sky's first quarter revenue of MXN 2.6 billion fell by 24.6% year-on-year, mainly driven by a lower subscriber base. To sum up, segment revenue of MXN 14.5 billion fell by 3.1% year-on-year, while operating segment income of MXN 6 billion increased by 5.2%, showing sustained momentum of the growth rebound experienced in the fourth quarter of last year. Our operating segment income margin of 41.4% expanded by 330 basis points year-on-year, making it the best quarter over the last 3 years in terms of profitability, driven by the efficiency measures that we have implemented and the synergies from the ongoing integration between Izzi and Sky. On a sequential basis, operating segment income increased by 0.9%, while profitability expanded by 50 basis points. Regarding CapEx deployment, our first quarter total investments of MXN 2.5 billion accounted for 17.2% of sales. The main reason behind having higher total investments relative to the first quarter of the last year was the FTTH upgrade of 1.5 million homes previously discussed. Finally, operating cash flow of Cable and Sky, which is equivalent to EBITDA minus CapEx, was MXN 3.5 billion in the first quarter, accounting for 34.2% of sales.

Thank you, Valim. Amazing job. Now let me walk you through TelevisaUnivision's first quarter results. The company's first quarter revenue of $1.1 billion increased by 5% year-on-year. Excluding the impact from the appreciation of the Mexican peso, TelevisaUnivision's first quarter revenue was flat, underscoring the resilience of our portfolio in a dynamic macro environment. During the quarter, results were driven by growth in ViX, which remains a key engine of expansion across both of our advertising and subscription businesses. We also delivered strong linear distribution and content licensing revenue in both regions and total advertising results remained nearly flat even as we faced anticipated softness in the U.S. from a sports calendar weighted to events outside our portfolio. While operational performance remained solid during the quarter, total operating expenses increased 11% or 5%, excluding the appreciation of the Mexican peso, largely due to an increase in strategic marketing investments and a higher concentration of sports-related costs, primarily related to the Winter Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. As a result, adjusted EBITDA of $323 million declined by 6%. Moving on to the details of our revenue performance. During the quarter, consolidated advertising revenue decreased by 3% year-on-year. In the U.S., advertising revenue was 12% lower as growth in direct-to-consumer advertising revenue was offset by softness in linear networks. In Mexico, advertising revenue increased 13% year-on-year, driven by DTC growth, which partially offset a timing shift of private sector advertising revenue to latter quarters related to FIFA World Cup campaigns. During the quarter, consolidated subscription and licensing revenue increased by 15% year-on-year. In the U.S., subscription and licensing revenue grew by 12%, driven by continued DTC momentum, higher average rates and incremental revenue from Hulu Live TV. In Mexico, subscription and licensing revenue increased by 28%, supported by the subscriber growth in ViX's premium tier, higher average rates and growth in content licensing driven by demand for our sports rights. Now we have fully lapped the renewal cycle impacts that we experienced last year, positioning us for more normalized growth comparison going forward. Turning on to ViX. We delivered another quarter of solid growth and profitability and reinforce the strength of our DTC strategy. Its subscription video-on-demand tier also achieved double-digit subscriber growth and achieved an all-time low global churn. In addition, we achieved an engagement record on ViX with 1 billion streaming hours across AVOD and SVOD tiers while advancing our ecosystem readiness ahead of the FIFA World Cup. We have made strong progress in executing our World Cup's strategy, which is clearly focused on driving acquisition, expanding accessibility and sustaining engagement beyond the tournament. Moving on to the balance sheet. TelevisaUnivision ended the quarter with $411 million in cash and approximately $725 million of available capacity under its credit facilities. Capital expenditures were $34 million for the quarter, essentially flat year-on-year, and we expect 2026 full year CapEx to be consistent with that of 2025. At the end of the first quarter, TelevisaUnivision's leverage ratio was 5.7x EBITDA, a modest increase from 5.6x at the end of 2025, partially due to the seasonality of the business. Finally, earlier this month, TelevisaUnivision issued $1.5 billion in new senior notes due 2033 and offered to purchase all its outstanding notes due 2028. With this, our next debt maturity will come in 2029. Moving on, let me remind you that on January 30, we used part of our free cash flow generated last year at Grupo Televisa to pay the remaining $207 million principal amount of our senior notes maturing this year. Moreover, at the end of the first quarter, Grupo Televisa's leverage ratio of 2x EBITDA compared to 2.4x by the end of the first quarter of 2024 due to our free cash flow generation of around MXN 4.3 billion over the last 12 months and our accumulated year-on-year EBITDA growth of 1.5%. To wrap up, Bernardo and I are confident that our focus on value customers efficiencies and ongoing integration between Izzi and Sky at Grupo Televisa and further integration and operational optimization at TelevisaUnivision now that our DTC business represents over 20% of consolidated revenue and adjusted EBITDA will allow us to create greater value for our shareholders in 2026. Now we're ready to take your questions. Elsa, could you please provide instructions for the Q&A?

[Operator Instructions] We have the first question from the line of Matthew Harrigan from Benchmark Stones.

Reaching a crossover now on the English market on streaming versus linear. I know Spanish is a little more resilient on the linear side. But what are you seeing on AVOD pricing premiums, CPMs? And what -- I know you've got some interesting things with the technology stack. Could you talk about that? And I guess that's my primary question. I had a follow-up.

Well, we feel great about our service, our technology. And if you saw the growth of ViX, it was spectacular. So we feel really comfortable with what we're offering, both technologically. We need some things that have to do with further personalization and recommendations. So we're moving in the right direction, but that needs a little improvement. But in general, I think the service technologically is great. And as a result of that and our content, if you saw our numbers, I think in terms -- we have grown engagement, we have grown the total stream hours. So we're happy with that. Of course, as a result of that, we're selling more advertising on the platform. So we're happy with the development of ViX.

And then you're one of the leading global Spanish news providers. And obviously, you're doing a lot in the mini novelas and all that in the short form content. What do you think the prospects are for ancillary monetization on TikTok and other digital forms because there's a plethora of content that's mostly on AVOD, your linear channels right now.

Yes. As to the micro-novelas, we have been successful. Last year, we produced around 30. This year, we will produce more than 100. So I mean, we're developing that market. We're selling advertising on those. So monetization is working. We have the micros on ViX primarily, but they're also on other platforms. Monetization on TikTok is we're talking to them because it's difficult, but we are talking to them. We're generating a lot of engagement and of course, on YouTube, on TikTok, et cetera. So our content works. Our content has a huge engagement, huge interest in general. So we're working with those platforms in terms of monetization. Today, we're monetizing that primarily on ViX.

We have the next question from the line of Ernesto Gonzalez from Morgan Stanley.

It's 2. First one is, can you talk a little bit about the strong margins you delivered and how sustainable these are going forward, especially considering some of the top line pressures you have from Sky? And the second one is, can you talk a little bit about the competition in the fixed market? That's it.

Thank you for your question, Ernesto. Valim, can you answer, please?

Sure. So the margins will fluctuate around the 40% range. In terms of the top line competition, this is a very competitive market where we all play a role. We tend to play a role more in the more sophisticated, more long-term clients that stay with us. So our churn is, like we said, between this 1.9% to 2% range and has been like that. We don't go -- we don't think that going after huge volumes of new acquisitions will drive any value moving forward. So I think this is more or less how we see the market.

We have the next question from the line of Olivia Mizovarta (sic) [ Olivia Mogavero ] from JPMorgan.

My first question goes on the line of M&A. How is your appetite evolving? And do you have any updates in your capital allocation strategy? And the second one, it would be interesting to have an updated outlook for your CapEx this year and for the mid- to long term, considering the homes [ spent ] that you already did in this quarter and your prospects for the next ones?

Thank you for your question. As to the capital allocation priorities, as you know, we're always exploring M&A opportunities in our sector. And of course, we will continue to use our free cash flow -- the free cash flow that we have generated to keep strengthening our balance sheet. And as I mentioned, we're prepared for potential M&A opportunities in the Mexican telecommunications sector. As you might remember, on January 30 this year, we used part of our free cash flow generated last year at Grupo Televisa to pay the remaining $207 million of our senior notes maturing this year. So at the end of the first quarter, Grupo Televisa's leverage ratio of 2x EBITDA compared to 2.4x by the end of the first quarter of 2024. And this is a result of our free cash flow generation of MXN 4.3 billion over the last 12 months and our accumulated year-on-year EBITDA growth of 1.5%. And regarding our CapEx, it will be why we are upgrading the network in the low 20s range percentage of revenue. As we finish that next year, obviously, it should go down to the 15% range, but that would be only second half of next year.

We have the next question from the line of Rafael from UBS.

Well, I'm going to start here by asking about the share of income from associates and joint ventures line for Grupo Televisa. It had a pretty relevant increase this quarter. You mentioned in the report that the main drivers were higher earnings at Univision and your increased stake in the company, right? So if you could please comment more about that and comment how should we think about this line going forward?

Yes. Thank you for your question, Rafael. Carlos, can you please answer?

Yes, Rafael, as you mentioned, we had an increase of around MXN 1.2 billion during the quarter in this line. As you may recall, we account for our investment in TelevisaUnivision using the equity method. So on this line, we include things, for example, as our share of net income in TelevisaUnivision. We also include the income from our preferred shares in TelevisaUnivision. And as you mentioned, during the quarter, we had an increase due to the fact that our share in Televisa, our ownership stake increased from 43.2% to 44.3%. Every quarter, this is normal in TU, there are increases and decreases depending on things like, for example, vesting of stock options and other items like that. The main driver of the increase during this quarter was that TU did a [indiscernible] of certain preferred stock, which increased our share. So that's basically the driver on that, which is the lion's share of the increase we saw in that line.

Okay. Super clear. Just a quick follow-up on CapEx. If we look at 2025 levels, it was concentrated more in the second half of the year. So looking at this year, should we expect also CapEx to be back-end loaded?

No. This year, it should be more level because we are already ramped up the build-out of the network last year. So we are on track and at the current speed, stable speed. So we wouldn't see a spike towards the end. It should be more flattish throughout the year.

We have the next question from the line of [ David Lopez ] from New Street Research.

I have a couple of quick questions, please. First one is if you could talk about your -- if you have plans for price increases on broadband this year? And the second question, I was wondering the 25 network that will not be fiber-to-the-home, do you have plans in the longer term to upgrade these homes as well? Or will they stay in non-fiber?

Yes, it's not that it will be -- by the end of this year, will be 75. By mid-2027, will be 100% fiber. So it's just a function of timing. Regarding price increases, we actually did a price increase of MXN 30 now in March on broadband.

We have the next question from the line of Lucca Brendim from Bank of America.

I have one here from my side. You had a very strong performance on enterprise this quarter. And I wanted to understand how much of that is recurring and will continue to the next quarters? You mentioned that part of it was due to the timing, the recognition timing for an important project. So does that only impact this quarter? Or will it also impact other quarters?

In terms of revenue, it is a recurring contract. So it will be impacting other quarters as well. As far as growth is concerned, obviously, the contract has spike in growth. It should not be repeated as much as we did, but we are anticipating still high growth from our enterprise business.

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference over back to Mr. Alfonso de Angoitia for any closing remarks.

Thank you very much. Well, call us, if you have any additional questions. We're very happy with the results of this quarter. Thank you, and see you later.

Thank you. The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.