HALIFAX – Bell Aliant saw its operating revenues drop by 3.7% ($27 million) in the third quarter of 2010 compared to the third quarter of 2009.
The company said Wednesday that the dip was driven by declines in local and long distance revenues associated with lower network access services (NAS) and lower data revenues. These decreases were partially offset by increases in Internet revenues.
Operating expense reductions continued, with a 4.6% ($16 million) decline year-over-year driven by labour-related cost reductions and other cost containment initiatives, which helped to mitigate the effects on EBITDA of lower revenues.
EBITDA decreased by 2.7% ($10 million) in the third quarter of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009. Because of the larger percentage improvement in operating expenses relative to the decline in operating revenues, EBITDA margin improved to 51.9% this quarter, up from 51.4% percent in the same quarter last year.
Bell Aliant said that it now passes over 106,000 homes with its fibre-to-the-home FibreOp service and is on track to pass over 140,000 homes and business by the end of 2010.
“I am very pleased with our expanding FibreOP service and the strong bundle adoption we are experiencing as we work toward our goal of providing all communications services to our customers’ homes and businesses”, said president and CEO Karen Sheriff, in a statement. “Our rollout of this best-in-class technology as we face the challenges of an increasingly competitive marketplace, along with our cost management progress, improvements in NAS declines, and our continued focus on strong customer service, all give me confidence that we are pursuing the right strategy to ensure a solid, sustainable business for our customers, investors and employees.”
The company said that Internet revenue grew by 6% ($7 million) this quarter, with the number of high-speed Internet customers 5.2% higher than a year ago plus growth in Bell Aliant TV subscribers. Residential high speed average revenue per customer (ARPC) reached its highest point to date, increasing 5.1% over the same quarter in 2009 as a result of pricing action and customer migration to higher value services.
The company did not detail its subscriber figures.
