WINNIPEG – Though EBITDA dipped by 3.3% from last year, MTS Allstream said that its first quarter results “represent steady, stable performance”.
EBITDA for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009 was $163.2 million, while total revenue increased by 0.9% for the quarter to $482.9 million, lead by the company’s ‘growth services’.
MTS Allstream’s growth services, which include wireless, high-speed Internet, digital television, converged Internet protocol, and unified communications services, comprised 47% of total revenues as compared to 42.8% a year earlier, and grew 10.9% year-over-year.
The company’s wireless subscriber base grew 9.6% to 438,300 subscribers this quarter, while revenues from wireless data services increased by 32.9% driven by increased utilization of next generation wireless data services and service features, such as text messaging and Web browsing services.
Consumer Internet services revenue grew 11.6% year-over-year to $22.2 million, lead by a 4.8% increase of consumer high-speed Internet customer base, which topped out at 177,997 customers.
Growth in revenue from our digital television services, which increased by 6.6% or $0.8 million to $13.0 million, contributed to the increase in the company’s other revenues. As at March 31, 2009, MTS TV’s digital television subscriber base increased by 8.2% year-over-year to reach 84,502, representing a 34% market share, up from 32% last year.
"Considering current economic conditions MTS Allstream delivered solid performance in the first quarter on the strength of double-digit growth from growth services and cost reductions that exceeded our plan," said CEO Pierre Blouin, in the press release. "The Company also benefited from the continued resilience of the Manitoba economy, which has been less affected by the recession than Canada as a whole."
The Company generates approximately 70% of its operating cash flow and profitability in Manitoba.
In other company news, the communication solutions provider launched a new calling plan called the ‘MTS All Access Plan’. The plan offers MTS mobility customers unlimited local and long distance calling to all MTS residential, business, and MTS Mobility phone numbers within Manitoba, which totals more than one million telephone numbers.
