Cablevision Q4 Results Top Estimates

(RTTNews) - Telecommunications and media company Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC) reported Wednesday a profit for the fourth quarter that more than halved from last year.

Cablevision suffered customer losses but revenue per customer increased, helping earnings per share from continuing operations and quarterly revenues top analysts' expectations.

"Cablevision made substantial headway on a number of fronts in 2013, and generated stronger financial results in the fourth quarter. We improved the quality of our network, increased the efficiency of our operations and strengthened the Company's financial profile," President and CEO James Dolan said in a statement.

The Bethpage, New York-based company reported net income of $51.84 million or $0.19 per share for the fourth quarter, lower than $116.54 million or $0.45 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Income from continuing operations for the quarter was $47.04 million or $0.18 per share, compared to loss of $73.91 million or $0.29 per share in the year-ago quarter.

On average, 22 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.09 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net revenues for the quarter grew 4.5 percent to $1.58 billion from $1.52 billion in the same quarter last year, and topped twenty Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $1.57 billion by a whisker. Excluding items, adjusted consolidated net revenues would have increased 2.3 percent.

Cable revenues for the quarter grew 5.2 percent to $1.41 billion, primarily reflecting higher data rates, higher video revenues and the impact of Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Cable advertising revenue growth was 2.6 percent.

Compared to the year-ago quarter, the company recorded total customer losses of about 42,000 and video customer losses of about 80,000. However, the company gained 17,000 High-speed data customers and 8,000 voice customers.

However, average monthly revenue per video customer or RPS, improved 8.8 percent to $166.66, and Average Monthly Cable Revenue per Customer or RPC, grew 7.1 percent to $147.34 from the year-ago quarter.

Lightpath revenue increased 3.9 percent to $85.01 million in the year-ago quarter, reflecting an increase in revenue from Ethernet services and a higher overall gross margin. Meanwhile, other revenues declined 4.9 percent to $96.95 million from last year.

On Tuesday, Cablevision's board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share on each outstanding share of both its Class A and Class B stock, payable on April 3 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 14, 2014.

For fiscal 2013, the company reported net income of $465.66 million or $1.75 per share, sharply higher than $233.52 million or $0.87 per share in the prior year. Income from continuing operations for the year grew to $127.35 million or $0.48 per share from $74.24 million or $0.87 per share in the year ago.

Net revenues for the full year grew 1.6 percent to $6.23 billion from $6.13 billion in the previous year. Excluding these items, consolidated net revenues would have increased 1.3 percent.

Analysts expected the company to report full-year 2013 earnings of $0.36 per share on annual revenues of $6.22 billion.

"Our focus on improving the customer experience resulted in the successful roll-out of new and enhanced products as well as better service for our customers. We look forward to continuing this progress in 2014," Dolan added.

In Wednesday's regular trading session, CVC is currently trading at $17.79, up $1.17 or 7.04% on a volume of 1.67 million shares. In the past 52-week period, the stock has been trading in a range of $13.62 to $20.16.