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Rogers Reports Second Quarter 2011 Financial and Operating Results
Second Quarter Revenue up 3% to $3.1 Billion, Adjusted Operating Profit Grows 4%, Adjusted Diluted EPS up 8% to $0.85, $559 Million of Free Cash Flow Generated; Wireless Subscribers up 135,000 Driven by Record Number of New Smartphone Customers, While Wireless Data Revenue Growth Strong at 31% and Network Margins at 47%; Cable Operations Adjusted Operating Profit Increases 17% Driving Margins to 48% on Continued Subscriber Growth and Cost Efficiencies; Media Revenue up by 13% Reflecting Top Line Growth Broadly Across Portfolio TORONTO, July 26, 2011 /CNW/ - Rogers Communications Inc. today announced its consolidated financial and operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS").
"Rogers delivered a solid performance in the second quarter both for financial and subscriber results, delivering solid growth in a highly competitive environment," said Nadir Mohamed, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rogers Communications Inc. "The strength of our asset mix combined with successful execution on our priorities - wireless data growth, customer retention and managing our cost structure - enabled Rogers to generate continued strong margins and substantial free cash flow." Highlights of the second quarter of 2011 include the following:
This earnings release, which is current as of July 25, 2011, is a summary of our second quarter 2011 results and should be read in conjunction with our second quarter 2011 MD&A, second quarter 2011 Interim Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto, our 2010 Annual MD&A and our 2010 Annual Audited Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto and other recent securities filings available on SEDAR at sedar.com. The financial information presented herein has been prepared on the basis of International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") for interim financial statements and is expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated. Comparative amounts for 2010 included in this earnings release have been restated to reflect our adoption of IFRS, with effect from January 1, 2010. Periods prior to January 1, 2010 have not been restated and are prepared in accordance with Canadian GAAP. Concurrent with the impact of the transition to IFRS, we made certain changes to our reportable segments. Commencing January 1, 2011, the results of the former Rogers Retail segment are reported as follows: the results of the Video retailing portion are now presented as a separate operating sub-segment under the Cable segment, and the portions related to retail distribution of cable and wireless products and services are now included in the results of operations of Cable Operations and Wireless, respectively. In addition, certain intercompany transactions between the Company's Rogers Business Solutions ("RBS") segment and other operating segments, which were previously recorded as revenue in RBS and operating expenses in the other operating segments, are now recorded as cost recoveries in RBS beginning January 1, 2011. While there is no change to the consolidated results of the Company or to the adjusted operating profit of RBS, as a result of this second change, the reported revenue of RBS is lower as intercompany sales are no longer included. Comparative figures for 2010 have been reclassified to conform to the current year's presentation of both changes discussed above. As this earnings release includes forward-looking statements and assumptions, readers should carefully review the sections of this earnings release entitled "Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements, Risks and Assumptions". In this earnings release, the terms "we", "us", "our", "Rogers" and "the Company" refer to Rogers Communications Inc. and our subsidiaries, "Wireless", "Cable", and "Media".
SEGMENT REVIEW WIRELESS
The year-over-year increase in subscriber additions for the quarter reflects increases in gross subscriber additions in both the postpaid and prepaid categories. Included in postpaid gross additions are a record number of new smartphone subscribers. The increase in prepaid subscriber additions primarily reflects sales activity from Wireless' launch of its urban zone-based unlimited voice and text service, chatr, as well as prepaid wireless data plans for tablets and USB devices. The increase in network revenue for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, compared to the corresponding periods of 2010, was driven predominantly by the continued growth of Wireless' subscriber base and the increased adoption and usage of wireless data services. For both the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, wireless data revenue increased by approximately 31% from the corresponding periods of 2010, to $572 million and $1,114 million, respectively. This growth in wireless data revenue reflects the continued penetration and growing usage of smartphone and wireless laptop and tablet devices which are driving increased usage of e-mail, wireless Internet access, text messaging and other wireless data services. For the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, data revenue represented approximately 35% and 34%, respectively, of total network revenue, compared to approximately 27% in the corresponding periods of 2010. For the three months ended June 30, 2011, Wireless activated and upgraded approximately 591,000 smartphones, compared to approximately 385,000 smartphones in the second quarter of 2010. These smartphones were predominantly iPhone, BlackBerry and Android devices, of which approximately 40% were for subscribers new to Wireless, during the three months ended June 30, 2011. This resulted in subscribers with smartphones representing 48% of the overall postpaid subscriber base as at June 30, 2011, compared to 35% as at June 30, 2010. These subscribers generally commit to new multi-year-term contracts, and typically generate ARPU nearly twice that of voice only subscribers. This is the largest number of new smartphone customer additions that Wireless has ever reported in a quarter. Year-over-year postpaid ARPU decreased by 4%, which reflects declines in most categories of wireless voice revenues, offset by higher wireless data and feature revenues. The approximately 15% decrease in the wireless voice component of postpaid ARPU is primarily due to the general level of competitive intensity in the wireless voice services market. During the quarter, Wireless heightened its focus on initiatives aimed at slowing the decline of voice ARPU which has accelerated in recent quarters. Wireless Equipment Sales The year-over-year increase for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 in revenue from equipment sales, including activation fees and net of equipment subsidies, versus the corresponding periods of 2010, reflects the significant increase in the number of smartphone activations.
The $96 million increase in cost of equipment sales for the three months ended June 30, 2011, compared to the corresponding period of 2010, was primarily the result of an increase in gross additions versus the prior period and a continued increase in the mix of smartphones for both new and upgrading subscribers. This was the single largest factor driving the year-over-year increase in expenses, and Wireless views these costs as net present value positive investments in the acquisition and retention of higher ARPU, lower churning customers who are on term contracts. These factors also contributed to the increase in cost of equipment sales for the six months ended June 30, 2011, compared to the corresponding period of 2010. Total retention spending, including subsidies on handset upgrades, was $192 million and $375 million in the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, respectively, compared to $161 million and $311 million in the corresponding periods of 2010. The significant increase is a result of a higher mix of smartphone upgrades by existing subscribers, versus the corresponding periods in 2010. The year-over-year increase in other operating expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2011, excluding retention spending discussed above, was driven by higher sales costs associated with both the volume and mix of sales, which were offset by savings resulting from cost reduction initiatives and scale efficiencies across various functions and a one-time commodity tax adjustment. Wireless Adjusted Operating Profit The 7% year-over-year decrease in adjusted operating profit and the 46.5% adjusted operating profit margin on network revenue (which excludes equipment sales revenue) for the three months ended June 30, 2011 primarily reflect the increase in the total operating expenses discussed above, driven heavily by the high level of smartphone activations and upgrades and related level of subsidy spending, partially offset by the increase in network revenue. Wireless Additions to PP&E
Wireless PP&E additions for the three months ended June 30, 2011 reflects spending on network capacity, such as radio channel additions, network core improvements and network enhancing features, including the continued deployment of our HSPA+ network and the initial construction and launch of our LTE network. Quality-related additions to PP&E are associated with upgrades to the network to enable higher throughput speeds in addition to improved network access associated activities, such as site build programs and network sectorization work. Moreover, Quality includes test and monitoring equipment and operating support system activities. Investments in Network - other are associated with network reliability and renewal initiatives, infrastructure upgrades and new product platforms. Information technology and other wireless specific system initiatives include billing and back-office system upgrades, and other facilities and equipment spending. The increase in Wireless PP&E additions for the three and six months ending June 30, 2011 is largely due to investments to build out the LTE network in Canada's top four markets and spending on Information technology investments on our customer interfacing systems. CABLE
The following segment discussions provide a detailed discussion of the Cable operating results. CABLE OPERATIONS
Cable Television Revenue The increase in Cable Television revenue for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, compared to the corresponding periods of 2010, reflects the timing of pricing changes made in March 2011 this year and August 2010 last year, together with continued increase in penetration of our digital cable product offerings and greater usage of on-demand and pay-per-view services. The digital cable subscriber base grew by 3% and represented 76% of the television subscriber base as at June 30, 2011, compared to 74% as at June 30, 2010. Increased demand from subscribers for the larger selection of digital content, video on-demand, HDTV and personal video recorder ("PVR") equipment continues to contribute to the growth in the digital subscriber base and Cable Television revenue. Cable Internet Revenue The year-over-year increase in Internet revenue for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 reflects the increase in the Internet subscriber base, combined with the timing of Internet service pricing changes made in July 2010 and in March 2011. Also impacting the increase is the timing and mix of promotional programs and a general movement by subscribers towards higher end tiers, and to a lesser extent the transfer of the wholesale cable Internet from RBS to Cable Operations. With the high-speed Internet base at approximately 1.7 million subscribers, Internet penetration is approximately 46% of the homes passed by our cable networks and 75% of our television subscriber base, as at June 30, 2011. Home Phone Revenue The year-over-year decrease in Home Phone revenue for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, reflects the declines in revenue associated with the legacy circuit-switched telephony base that Cable has almost completed with the process of divesting, which was partially offset by the increase in the cable telephony customer base combined with price changes in March 2011. Cable continues to focus principally on growing its on-net cable telephony line base. As a result, in Q3 2010, it announced that it was divesting the assets of its off-net circuit-switched telephony business where services cannot be provided over Rogers' own cable network facilities. Under this arrangement, most of its co-location sites and related equipment were sold. In addition, the sale involved residential circuit-switched lines, with the customers served by these facilities being migrated to a third-party reseller starting late in the third quarter of 2010 and continuing over the first half of 2011. This is the principal driver of the decline of 94,000 in the legacy circuit-switched telephony base from June 30, 2010 to the current level today. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, approximately 20,000 and 32,000 circuit-switched lines, respectively, were all migrated to third-party resellers, with the exception of 3,000 which were migrated to RBS in the first quarter of 2011. The balance remaining is approximately 3,000, which will be migrated during the third quarter of 2011. For the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, the revenue reported by Cable Operations associated with the residential circuit-switched telephony business being divested totalled approximately $3 million and $10 million, respectively, whereas the circuit-switched telephony revenues in the three and six months ended June 30, 2010 totalled approximately $16 million and $35 million, respectively. Cable telephony lines in service grew 5% from June 30, 2010 to June 30, 2011. At June 30, 2011, cable telephony lines represented 28% of the homes passed by our cable networks and 45% of television subscribers. The lower net additions of cable telephony lines in the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, versus the corresponding periods of 2010, are the result of lower sales associated with a combination of product maturation and increased competition. Excluding the impact of the declining circuit-switched telephony business that Cable is in the process of divesting, the year-over-year revenue growth for Home Phone and for Cable Operations overall for the three months ended June 30, 2011 would have been 4% and 7%, respectively. Cable Operations Operating Expenses The decrease in Cable Operations' operating expenses for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, compared to the corresponding periods of 2010, was primarily due to cost reduction and efficiency initiatives across various functions, with activity driven costs generally benefiting from the lower number of new customer additions and customer churn versus the same period in the prior year, and a one-time commodity tax adjustment. Cable Operations continues to focus on implementing a program of permanent cost reduction and efficiency improvement initiatives to control the overall growth in operating expenses. Cable Operations Adjusted Operating Profit The year-over-year growth in adjusted operating profit was primarily the result of the revenue growth and cost changes described above. As a result, Cable Operations' adjusted operating profit margins increased to 47.7% and 47.4% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, respectively, compared to 43.0% in both the corresponding periods of 2010.
The decrease in RBS revenue for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, primarily reflects the planned decline in certain categories of lower margin legacy business, partially offset by the growth in next generation IP and other on-net services. RBS focus is primarily on IP-based services and increasingly on leveraging higher margin on-net and near-net revenue opportunities utilizing both the acquired Atria and Blink networks and Cable's existing network facilities to expand offerings to the medium-sized enterprise, public sector and carrier markets. The lower margin legacy business, which includes long-distance, local and certain legacy data services, continues to decline and is down 32% for the quarter and 25% year to date. For the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, the acquisition of Atria contributed revenue of $17 million and $37 million, respectively. RBS Operating Expenses Operating expenses decreased for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, compared to the corresponding periods of 2010 and reflects the decrease in legacy services related costs due to lower volumes and subscriber levels, permanent cost reductions resulting from a 2010 restructuring of the employee base, lower sales within the medium and large enterprise and carrier segments, and operating efficiencies stemming from the integration of Blink and Atria. RBS Adjusted Operating Profit The year-over-year growth in adjusted operating profit reflects the acquisition of the higher margin Atria and Blink on-net data businesses and the RBS focus on growing its on-net next generation data revenue. This strategic shift has more than offset the declines in the lower margin legacy voice and data services. Cost reductions and efficiency initiatives across various functions have also contributed to higher operating profit and operating profit margins in the quarter. For the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, the acquisition of Atria contributed adjusted operating profit of $9 million and $22 million, respectively, contributing to the growth of the next generation services market, including data and Internet. VIDEO
Video Revenue The results of the Video segment include our video and game sale and rental business which has and continues to be restructured and downsized coinciding with the declining market opportunity. The decrease in Video revenue for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, compared to the corresponding periods of 2010, was the result of a continued decline in video rental and sales activity and the reduction of nearly 20% in the number of store locations since the start of 2010. Video Adjusted Operating Loss The adjusted operating loss at Video decreased for the three months ended June 30, 2011, and was relatively flat for the six months ended June 30, 2011, compared to the corresponding periods of 2010, reflecting the trends in revenue and operating expenses above. Cable Additions to PP&E
The Cable Operations segment categorizes its PP&E expenditures according to a standardized set of reporting categories that were developed and agreed to by the U.S. cable television industry and that facilitate comparisons of additions to PP&E between different cable companies. Under these industry definitions, Cable Operations additions to PP&E are classified into the following five categories:
Additions to Cable PP&E include continued investments in the cable network to enhance the customer experience through increased speed and performance of our Internet service and capacity enhancements to our digital network to allow for incremental HD and On-Demand services to be added. The increase in Cable Operations PP&E for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, compared to the corresponding periods of 2010, resulted primarily from higher Scalable infrastructure and Support capital expenditures due to projects associated with increasing capacity on our Video platform and quality related investments on our Voice platform and timing on Infrastructure projects. The increases in RBS PP&E additions for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 reflect the timing of expenditures on customer networks and support capital. MEDIA
Media Revenue The increases in Media's revenue for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, respectively, compared to the corresponding periods of 2010, were mainly the result of increased advertising sales and new subscriber fees generated from Sportsnet ONE. Publishing, Radio, Television, Sports Entertainment, and Digital Media all drove growth in revenue for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, which was partially offset by a slight decline at The Shopping Channel. Media Operating Expenses Media's operating expenses for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 increased, compared to the corresponding periods of 2010, primarily due to additional costs related to acquisitions of BV Media, BOUNCE, BOB-FM and planned Television programming principally in the area of sports content. Media Adjusted Operating Profit The increase in Media's adjusted operating profit for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, compared to the corresponding periods of 2010, primarily reflects the revenue and expense changes discussed above. Media Additions to PP&E Media's PP&E additions during the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 increased from the corresponding periods in 2010 due primarily to Television broadcast equipment additions related to the CRTC mandated digital transition and planned software upgrades. 2011 FINANCIAL AND OPERATING GUIDANCE We have no specific revisions to the 2011 annual guidance ranges which we provided on February 16, 2011. See the section entitled "Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements, Risks and Assumptions" below. Rogers Communications Inc.
This earnings release includes forward-looking statements and assumptions concerning our business, its operations and its financial performance and condition approved by management on the date of this earnings release. These forward-looking statements and assumptions include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to our objectives and strategies to achieve those objectives, statements with respect to our beliefs, plans, expectations, anticipations, estimates or intentions, including guidance and forecasts relating to revenue, adjusted operating profit, PP&E expenditures, free cash flow, dividend payments, expected growth in subscribers and the services to which they subscribe, the cost of acquiring subscribers and the deployment of new services, the currently estimated financial impacts of converting to IFRS accounting standards, and all other statements that are not historical facts. Such forward-looking statements are based on current objectives, strategies, expectations and assumptions, most of which are confidential and proprietary, that we believe to be reasonable at the time including, but not limited to, general economic and industry growth rates, currency exchange rates, product pricing levels and competitive intensity, subscriber growth and usage rates, changes in government regulation, technology deployment, device availability, the timing of new product launches, content and equipment costs, the integration of acquisitions, industry structure and stability, and current guidance from accounting standard bodies with respect to the conversion to IFRS accounting standards. Except as otherwise indicated, this earnings release and our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any non-recurring or other special items or of any dispositions, monetizations, mergers, acquisitions, other business combinations or other transactions that may be considered or announced or may occur after the date of the financial information contained herein. We caution that all forward-looking information, including any statement regarding our current intentions, is inherently subject to change and uncertainty and that actual results may differ materially from the assumptions, estimates or expectations reflected in the forward-looking information. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements or could cause our current objectives and strategies to change, including but not limited to new interpretations from accounting standards bodies, economic conditions, technological change, the integration of acquisitions, unanticipated changes in content or equipment costs, changing conditions in the entertainment, information and communications industries, regulatory changes, litigation and tax matters, the level of competitive intensity and the emergence of new opportunities, many of which are beyond our control and current expectation or knowledge. Therefore, should one or more of these risks materialize, should our objectives or strategies change, or should any other factors underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results and our plans may vary significantly from what we currently foresee. Accordingly, we warn investors to exercise caution when considering any such forward-looking information herein and that it would be unreasonable to rely on such statements as creating any legal rights regarding our future results or plans. We are under no obligation (and we expressly disclaim any such obligation) to update or alter any forward-looking statements or assumptions whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Before making any investment decisions and for a detailed discussion of the risks, uncertainties and environment associated with our business, fully review the sections of our second quarter MD&A entitled "Updates to Risks and Uncertainties" and "Government Regulation and Regulatory Developments", and also the sections entitled "Risks and Uncertainties Affecting our Businesses" and "Government Regulation and Regulatory Developments" in our 2010 Annual MD&A. Our annual and quarterly reports can be found online at rogers.com, sedar.com and sec.gov or are available directly from Rogers. About Rogers Communications Inc. Rogers Communications is a diversified Canadian communications and media company. We are Canada's largest provider of wireless voice and data communications services and one of Canada's leading providers of cable television, high-speed Internet and telephony services. Through Rogers Media we are engaged in radio and television broadcasting, televised shopping, magazines and trade publications, sports entertainment, and digital media. We are publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RCI.A and RCI.B) and on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: RCI). For further information about the Rogers group of companies, please visit rogers.com. Quarterly Investment Community Conference Call As previously announced by press release, a live webcast of our quarterly results conference call with the investment community will be broadcast via the Internet at rogers.com/webcast beginning at 8:30 a.m. ET today, July 26, 2011. A rebroadcast of this teleconference will be available on the Events and Presentations page of Rogers' Investor Relations website rogers.com/investors for a period of at least two weeks following the conference call.
For further information: Investment Community Contacts Bruce M. Mann, 416.935.3532, bruce.mann@rci.rogers.com Media Contact Terrie Tweddle, 416.935.4727, terrie.tweddle@rci.rogers.com Index of Releases | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Rogers Reports Second Quarter 2011 Financial and Operating Results
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