Chris Hughes, Columnist

Cable Billionaire Gets a $58 Billion Debt Reminder

Patrick Drahi's Altice has little choice but to lift investment in France.

November 10, 2017 at 12:35 PM UTC

Chris Hughes is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals. Previously, he worked for Reuters Breakingviews, the Financial Times and the Independent newspaper.

1510319352_pat — Photographer: Christophe Morin/IP3/Getty Images

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Leverage cuts both ways. If anyone needed reminding of how debt amplifies the bad as well as the good, look at telecoms group Altice NV. Shares in the company controlled by billionaire Patrick Drahi have fallen 36 percent since last week's poor quarterly numbers. On Thursday, the CEO left and Drahi returned center stage.

The rapid fall in the stock is a simple function of Altice's leverage. Third-quarter results missed expectations, although not hugely, and there was a modest cut to 2017 guidance. The group's market enterprise value has since fallen 12 percent to 70 billion euros ($81 billion).