HALIFAX – Bell Aliant grew operating revenue 0.8% to $815.3 million for their third quarter, compared to the same period a year ago, the company said in a release this week.
The growth came primarily from Information Technology (IT) and Internet revenues which offsetting declines in local, long distance and other revenues.
The company press release also announced a long-term agreement with controlling shareholder Bell Canada to provide an enhanced transport network connecting Bell Mobility’s cell sites in Atlantic Canada and regions of Ontario and Quebec. This investment will add "HSPA" technology to the existing network, and support Bell’s nation-wide migration to Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, the fourth generation (4G) global wireless standard. The HSPA network is expected to be fully operational by 2010 and is a piece of the Bell-Telus announcement about a co-build of the next-gen network over a week ago.
"I am pleased with our third quarter performance," said Stephen Wetmore, outgoing president and CEO. "Our results are in line with our expectations, strongly positioning us to deliver on our stated objectives, and continue to demonstrate the stability of our operations."
Other highlights from the release include the following:
– Internet revenue grew 13.6% to $11.7 million in the third quarter of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007, with high-speed Internet subscriber growth of 12.4% and residential high-speed average revenue per subscriber (ARPC) growth of 6.9%.
– IT revenue increased by $15.0 million or 29.5% in the quarter compared to the same period last year, with increases in services revenue and equipment sales of $7.2 million and $7.8 million respectively.
– Local service and long distance revenue declined 1.4% to $4.9million and $7.7 million or 6.2%, respectively, in the third quarter of 2008 compared to the third quarter in 2007, with network access services (NAS) 3.4% lower than a year ago. Local service revenue in the quarter included a $2.4 million one-time favourable adjustment arising from retroactive contribution revenues.
– EBITDA increased $1.2 million or 0.3% in the third quarter of 2008 compared to the third quarter of 2007, with cost containment and productivity programs continuing to offset the effects of a changing revenue mix. EBITDA margin was 45.5% in the third quarter, down slightly from 45.7% for the same period in 2007.
– Capital expenditures in the third quarter were $138.8 million, down $900,000 (0.6%) from the same quarter a year ago.
– Distributable cash increased $1.7 million (1%) in the third quarter of 2008 from the same period 2007, resulting from EBITDA growth and reduced capital expenditures.
