Category

CWC

Aug 08
2

Cable & Wireless Reports Preliminary Q2 2017 Results

By | CWC, Featured, Report, Results | No Comments
  • Q2 Net Loss decreased by $92 Million Year-Over-Year to $14 Million
  • Revenue 1% Higher, Adjusted Segment EBITDA up 8%, on rebased basis
  • Network Expansion On Track, ~80,000 Upgrades / New Builds in H1
  • Successfully Raised $700 Million For Refinancing in July

Cable & Wireless Communications Limited (“CWC”) is the leading telecommunications operator in substantially all of its consumer markets, which are predominantly located in the Caribbean and Latin America, providing entertainment, information and communication services to 3.5 million mobile, 0.4 million television, 0.6 million internet and 0.6 million fixed-line telephony subscribers. In addition, CWC delivers B2B services and provides wholesale services over its sub-sea and terrestrial networks that connect over 40 markets across the region.

 Liberty Global’s Acquisition of CWC

On May 16, 2016, a subsidiary of Liberty Global acquired CWC (the “Liberty Global Transaction”). Revenue, Adjusted Segment EBITDA1 and subscriber statistics have been presented herein using Liberty Global’s definitions for all periods presented unless otherwise noted. Further adjustments to these metrics are possible as the integration process continues. Significant policy adjustments have been considered in our calculation of rebased growth rates for revenue and Adjusted Segment EBITDA. For additional information on Liberty Global’s definition of Adjusted Segment EBITDA and rebased growth rates, see footnotes 1 and 2, respectively. A reconciliation of net earnings (loss) to Adjusted Segment EBITDA is included in the Financial Results, Adjusted Segment EBITDA Reconciliation & Property, Equipment and Intangible Asset Additions3 section below. In addition, effective for the 2016 fiscal year, CWC changed its fiscal year end from March 31 to December 31 to conform with Liberty Global.

 Operating highlights:

  • Reported an organic RGU4 decline of 16,000 in Q2, including declines in Video, Internet and Telephony subscribers of 4,000, 3,000 and 9,000, respectively
  • Mobile subscribers5 decreased by 48,000 on an organic basis in Q2
  • Q2 subscriber highlights across our largest markets were as follows:
    • In Panama, we added 10,000 RGUs during the quarter, including 4,000 internet and 3,000 cable video RGUs, as we continued to generate momentum behind our refreshed bundled offers and network improvement activities, which enabled faster speeds of up to 300 Mbps. We also continued to grow our DTH6 base, adding 3,000 RGUs in Q2. On the mobile front, we lost 16,000 low-ARPU prepaid subscribers in the quarter
    • In Jamaica, RGUs decreased by 12,000 in Q2 as subscribers declined across all fixed-line categories. Our mobile base grew by 3,000 subscribers as we continued to target increased market share
    • In the Bahamas, we reported a small RGU decline of 1,000 in Q2 as continued penetration of our growing Fiber-to-the-Home (FttH) network generated 2,000 video adds, offset by a decline of 3,000 in voice subscribers. Our mobile subscriber base fell by 24,000 following the entrance of a new competitor into the market in late 2016
    • In Barbados, RGUs declined by 4,000, primarily due to lower fixed-line telephony subscribers and, to a lesser extent, declines in video and broadband caused by competition
    • In Trinidad, we added 2,000 RGUs as growth in fixed-line telephony, through bundling promotions, more than offset a decline in video subscribers due to continued competitive intensity