WINNIPEG – MTS Allstream saw both revenue and EBITDA drop this quarter, which the company said was a reflection of current economic conditions.
For its third quarter ended September 30, 2009, revenue declined 3.5% while EBITDA dipped by 5.0%. The company maintained a strong balance sheet through the quarter with a debt ratio at 41%, while free cash flow of $62.0 million provided sufficient funds to cover operating needs and a dividend.
“Our third quarter results reflect the continued impact of economic challenges facing Canada’s business market as well as our success in key product lines for our future”, said CEO Pierre Blouin, in a statement. “While economic pressures continue to impact our enterprise legacy portfolio and unified communications services, our results also highlight our success in strategic product lines that will define our long-term success, such as wireless, high-speed Internet, television and converged IP, which all grew strongly.”
The company’s growth services portfolio, which includes wireless, digital television, high-speed Internet, converged IP, unified communications, professional services and security, delivered "solid performance" in the third quarter, growing by 2.4%. Revenues from these services continued to increase their prominence in the overall revenue mix of the business, rising to 47% of total revenues.
Wireless revenues increased 7.3% as the number of subscribers reached 451,916. Its high speed Internet customer base was 180,546, with a 4.8% increase in revenues. Digital television revenues climbed 9.6% as its TV subscriber base grew by 2.3%, reaching 84,200 subscribers as at quarter end.
The recession and the slow pace of the economic recovery affected the performance of certain business lines within the Enterprise Solutions division. Converged IP, the division’s flagship strategic growth product, continued to be successful, with growth of 12.2% in the third quarter as compared to the same period of 2008.
