CALGARY – Shaw Communications saw a jump in both revenues and profits for its 2013 fiscal year which ended August 31, 2013.
The company said Thursday that consolidated revenue for the current three and twelve month periods of $1.25 billion and $5.14 billion, respectively, were each up 3% over the comparable periods last year. Total operating income before amortization for the quarter of $496 million was comparable to $501 million last year, and the annual period improved 4% to $2.22 billion.
Net income fell 12 % to $117 million for the fourth quarter, compared to $133 million for the same period last year. Net income for the annual period, however, was up 3% to $784 million compared to $761 million in 2012. Shaw explained that the annual improvement was primarily due to increased operating income and a gain on the sale of the Hamilton cable system (Mountain Cablevision) partially offset by higher income taxes.
Revenue in the Cable division of $818 million and $3.27 billion for the current three and twelve month periods, respectively, each improved 2% over the comparable periods. Operating income before amortization for the quarter of $396 million was consistent with the same quarter last year and the twelve month period improved 5% to $1.58 billion.
Shaw ended the year with 2,040,247 video customers, (down 5% or 109,502 from last year); 1,890,506 Internet customers (up 1.5% or 28,031 from last year); and 1,359,960 digital phone lines (up 4% or 52,416 from 2012).
The revenue growth in the Cable division, primarily driven by rate increases and lower promotional activity, was partially reduced by various expense increases including employee related amounts and higher programming.
Satellite revenue was $219 million and $860 million for the three and twelve month periods, respectively, up from $213 million and $844 million in the same periods last year. Operating income before amortization for the current quarter was $66 million compared to $77 million last year, and the twelve month amount of $285 million declined from $293 million in the prior year.
Shaw Direct ended the year with 903,565 customers, a decrease of 6,458 from 2012. The company said revenue growth in the satellite division, primarily due to rate increases, was reduced by higher expenses including employee related, programming, operating costs related to the new Anik G1 satellite, and sales and marketing.
Shaw reported that revenue and operating income before amortization in the Media division for the quarter of $231 million and $34 million, respectively, increased 6% and 21% over the same period last year. On a full-year basis Media revenue and operating income before amortization of $1.11 billion and $353 million improved 5% and 6%, respectively.
Media was up due to improved advertising and subscriber revenues partially reduced by increased employee related amounts and higher programming costs, the company said.
"Our fiscal 2013 results reflect healthy financial growth as we focus on sustainable subscriber acquisition, customer experience and operational execution”, said CEO Brad Shaw, in a statement.
Looking ahead, CEO Shaw added that the company expects “the environment to remain challenging over the coming year and with that backdrop we will continue to execute on our strategy that extends our leadership in core areas including internet, programming, and customer experience service delivery”.
With respect to 2014 guidance, on a preliminary basis the company estimated consolidated revenue and operating income before amortization growth, after adjusting for the net impact of fiscal 2013 acquisition and disposition activity, to range from 2% to 4%.
