CALGARY – Consolidated service revenue at Shaw Communications for the fourth quarter and full fiscal 2010 year of $939 million and $3.72 billion was up 8% and 10%, respectively, over the comparable periods last year.
This will be the last full fiscal year as a pure carrier company and under CEO Jim Shaw, as the company will close its purchase of Canwest Global on October 27th and Jim’s brother Brad is slated to take the CEO’s seat January 13th.
Total service operating income before amortization of $423 million and $1.76 billion, respectively, improved 7% and 14% over the same periods. Excluding a one-time CRTC Part II fee recovery the year-to-date increase in service operating income before amortization was 9%. Funds flow from operations was $327 million and $1.38 billion for the three months and annual period, respectively, compared to $321 million and $1.32 billion in the same periods last year.
Free cash flow for the three and twelve month periods was $69 million and $515 million, respectively, compared to $99 million and $506 million for the same periods last year. The current year was comparable to the prior period despite increased capital investment of almost $70 million and higher cash taxes of over $150 million in the current period, said the company in a release.
"Our financial and operational results for the quarter and year were solid. Through ongoing investment in our advanced broadband network and the provision of high quality leading edge products, value pricing, and exceptional customer service, we continue to grow our business in this highly competitive environment,” said CEO Jim Shaw.
"Fiscal 2010 was an exciting year with many significant accomplishments including a transformative transaction for Shaw with the acquisition of the Broadcasting business of Canwest Global Communications Corp including 100% of the specialty channels jointly owned by Canwest and Goldman Sachs. We believe the combination of content with our distribution networks position us as a leading Canadian entertainment, broadcasting and communications company offering our customers strong choices in this rapidly evolving landscape,” he continued.
"Looking forward to fiscal 2011 we expect continued growth in our core cable and satellite business. On a preliminary basis, we expect that the growth rate of core consolidated service operating income before amortization will decline modestly compared to last year’s organic growth of approximately 7.5% as a result of competitive market pressures and higher programming costs. We estimate capital investment will decline from 2010 levels and cash taxes will increase.
“Overall, for Cable and Satellite we expect robust free cash flow growth to approximately $550 million which, excluding the Part II fee recovery in 2010, represents a growth rate of approximately 20%. We also plan to continue our wireless build and anticipate investing approximately $200 million on this strategic initiative. We caution that this is preliminary guidance and may change in light of competitive market dynamics and other factors. Also, this guidance does not incorporate the new media assets which will immediately be accretive to free cash flow."
