TORONTO – Operating revenue increased 29% for the quarter ended June 30th at Rogers Communications Inc., with all three operating companies contributing to the year-over-year growth, including 47% growth at Wireless, 5.3% growth at Cable and 27.1% growth at Media.
Consolidated quarterly operating profit grew 26.9% year-over-year, with 47.6% growth at Wireless (to $364.8 million compared to June 30 2004) and 13.9% growth at Media (to $44.2 million), offset by a 1% decline at Cable (to $171.6 million). The company passed the one million high speed Internet subscriber mark during the quarter.
Wireless ended the quarter with a total of 5,707,700 retail wireless voice and data subscribers, reflecting postpaid net additions in the quarter of 116,500, compared to 88,300 in the second quarter of 2004, and prepaid subscriber net additions in the quarter of 8,000, compared to a net loss of 5,700 in the second quarter of 2004.
The integration of Fido (formerly Microcell) continued to progress as planned during the quarter with significant progress integrating the two GSM networks and the successful conversion of the Fido prepaid customer base to the Rogers Wireless prepaid billing platform. Over 80% of the Fido cell sites have now been integrated with successful network combinations completed in 23 of the top 25 Canadian cities.
On a pro forma basis, assuming the acquisition of Fido occurred on January 1, 2003, quarterly operating revenue increased by 15.4% on a consolidated basis and by 18.4% at Wireless; quarterly operating profit increased by 22.1% on a consolidated basis and by 38.5% at Wireless; quarterly PP&E expenditures increased by 13.8% on a consolidated basis and decreased by 9.4% at Wireless; Wireless added 116,500 net postpaid voice and data subscribers for the quarter compared to 134,200 in the second quarter of 2004; and Wireless added 8,000 net prepaid voice subscribers for the quarter compared to a net loss of 35,000 in the second quarter of 2004.
increased its number of revenue generating units by 79,200 in the quarter, driven by growth of 33,400 Internet subscribers and 56,900 digital cable subscribers (households), partially offset by the loss of 11,100 basic cable subscribers.
Media’s operating profit increased 13.9% from the same quarter in 2004 on solid revenue growth at Radio, OMNI TV and The Shopping Channel combined with continued programming and production cost savings at Sportsnet associated with the NHL player lockout and continued operating cost savings at Publishing. In the quarter, Media’s acquisition of Vancouver based NOWTV was completed following approval by the CRTC in a decision which also provided for retransmission into the Victoria market and the launch of a new Winnipeg television station.
The biggest news during the quarter, however, was RCI’s purchase of Call-Net and the rollout of telephony. "The successful introduction of Rogers’ voice-over-cable local telephony services and the completion of the Call-Net acquisition, combined with our 20 years of wireless telephony experience, means Rogers now provides telephone service to over six million Canadians from coast to coast," said Ted Rogers, president and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc. in the company’s press release. "As Canada’s leading wireless carrier and the country’s largest cable provider, we are positioned better than any other company in North America to capture the opportunities that lie ahead from the accelerating convergence of broadband and wireless technologies, while our media businesses generate excellent returns and serve as a potent force in supporting our growing array of communications services.”
