Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity
Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
General
The capitalized terms used in Part II of this Annual Report on Form 10-K are defined in the notes to our consolidated financial statements. In the following text, the terms “we,” “our,” “our company” and “us” may refer, as the context requires, to Liberty Global or collectively to Liberty Global and its subsidiaries.
Market Information
Our share capital comprises Liberty Global Class A, Class B and Class C common shares, which trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbols “LBTYA”, “LBTYB” and “LBTYK”, respectively. Share price information for securities traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market can be found on the Nasdaq’s website at www.nasdaq.com .
The following table sets forth the quarterly range of high and low sales prices of Liberty Global Class B common shares for 2023 and 2022. Although Liberty Global Class B common shares are traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, an established public trading market does not exist for the shares, as they are not actively traded.
Liberty Global Class B common shares
High Low
2023
First quarter $ 22.20 $ 18.20
Second quarter $ 19.84 $ 16.30
Third quarter $ 19.75 $ 16.86
Fourth quarter $ 18.44 $ 15.47
2022
First quarter $ 30.30 $ 23.55
Second quarter $ 26.20 $ 21.39
Third quarter $ 23.59 $ 16.62
Fourth quarter $ 20.99 $ 16.30
Holders
As of January 31, 2024, there were 31,412, 46 and 34,322 record holders of Liberty Global Class A, Class B and Class C common shares, respectively. These amounts do not include the number of shareholders whose shares are nominally held by banks, brokerage houses or other institutions, but include each such institution as one record holder.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on any of our common shares, and we have no present intention of doing so. Any future payment of cash dividends will be determined by our board of directors in light of our earnings, financial condition and other relevant considerations, including applicable laws in Bermuda.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Securities
None.
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Issuer Purchase of Equity Securities
The following table sets forth information regarding our company’s purchase of its own equity securities during the three months ended December 31, 2023:
Period Total number
of shares
purchased Average
price
paid per
share (a) Total number
of shares purchased as part of publicly-announced plans or programs Value of shares that may yet be repurchased under the plans or programs
October 1, 2023 through October 31, 2023:
Class A — — — (b)
Class C 9,400,310 17.68 9,400,310 (b)
November 1, 2023 through November 30, 2023:
Class A — — — (b)
Class C 4,491,261 17.26 4,491,261 (b)
December 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023:
Class A — — — (b)
Class C 6,502,630 17.39 6,502,630 (b)
Total — October 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023:
Class A — — — (b)
Class C 20,394,201 17.49 20,394,201 (b)
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(a) Average price paid per share includes direct acquisition costs.
(b) Our original share buyback plan for 2023 authorized the repurchase of 10% of our outstanding shares as of December 31, 2022, and this was increased to a minimum of 15% in July 2023. We achieved this minimum as of October 30, 2023, and announced a further repurchase target of approximately $300.0 million through the end of January 2024. At December 31, 2023, $101.7 million of this target remained and was fully achieved on January 26, 2024.
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Stock Performance Graph
The following graph compares the changes in the cumulative total shareholder return on our Liberty Global Class A, Class B and Class C common shares from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2023, to the change in the cumulative total returns of the Nasdaq US Benchmark Telecom TR Index and the Nasdaq US Benchmark TR Index (assuming reinvestment of dividends, where applicable). The graph assumes that $100 was invested on January 1, 2019.
December 31,
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Liberty Global - Class A
$ 106.56 $ 113.50 $ 129.99 $ 88.71 $ 83.27
Liberty Global - Class B
$ 108.29 $ 116.76 $ 134.10 $ 90.48 $ 84.81
Liberty Global - Class C
$ 105.62 $ 114.58 $ 136.09 $ 94.14 $ 90.31
Nasdaq US Benchmark Telecom TR Index $ 126.37 $ 138.80 $ 146.20 $ 113.62 $ 128.09
Nasdaq US Benchmark TR Index
$ 131.17 $ 159.07 $ 200.26 $ 160.75 $ 203.23
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