{
  "id": 6760645,
  "title": "Telefónica y Liberty preparan recortes por 700 millones en la británica VMO2",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/telefonica-y-liberty-preparan-recortes-por-700-millones-en-la",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-11T12:07:57.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Expansion ES",
    "slug": "expansion-es",
    "url": "https://www.expansion.com/empresas/tecnologia/2026/09/11/6aa3e984468aeb482b8b457c.html"
  },
  "original_language": "es",
  "account": "Telefónica and Liberty Global, co-owners of VMO2, are preparing a cost-cutting plan in their British subsidiary aimed at saving around £600 million (€700 million). The main measures include workforce reductions, a decrease in current expenses, and investment cuts, which are estimated to amount to £2 billion annually. Financial Times reported that the two shareholders had considered reducing the dividend by £200 million, which was previously lowered last year. These steps have not yet been formally proposed.\n\nVMO2's last reported financial statements for the first half of the year showed a loss of £341 million (€400 million), a 4.4% decrease, due to a 7.2% drop in revenues to £4.789 billion (€5.611 billion). Both Telefónica and Liberty Global have signaled the need to cut costs and reassure the market. Recently, both companies have sold bonds, putting downward pressure on VMO2's senior unsecured debt, which fell to £1.1 billion. Consequently, the price of a bond dropped to 61 cents on the dollar last Thursday, down from 78 cents at the beginning of July.\n\nVMO2's declining performance is evident in the loss of 29,200 fixed-line customers, with earnings 4.6% below the average, and 17,800 mobile connections, representing 46.4 million. Meanwhile, VMO2 and InfraVia, through the joint venture Nexfibre, are buying Netomnia, the second alternative fiber operator in the UK, for £2 billion to strengthen their position in the extremely fragmented fiber market and create a competitor to BT. VMO2 operates in a highly competitive environment in the UK, which remains one of Telefónica's four key markets, along with Spain, Germany, and Brazil. The company aims to develop a financially sustainable and enhanced network, expand fiber, and create value through VMO2 and Nexfibre. Telefónica has not commented, and Liberty and VMO2 have not responded to requests for information from Expansion at the time of publication.",
  "summary": "Los inversores están preocupados por la deuda de 25.500 millones de libras que tiene el grupo de telecomunicaciones. Leer",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Expansion ES",
        "title": "Morgan Stanley reduces its stake in Telefónica to 8%",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/morgan-stanley-reduce-su-participacion-en-telefonica-al-8",
        "published": "2026-09-10T20:28:53.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Corner",
        "title": "Morgan Stanley, holder of STC’s shares in Telefónica, reduces its stake from 13% to 8.3%",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/morgan-stanley-holder-of-stcs-shares-in-telefonica-reduces-its-stake",
        "published": "2026-09-11T08:32:42.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}