Charter Communications Inc. on Tuesday reported that its revenue
rose slightly more than expected because of higher Internet and
commercial revenues, ahead of its merger with Time Warner Cable
Inc.
In May, Charter agreed to merge with Time Warner Cable in a $55
billion cash-and-stock deal, giving cable mogul John Malone the
prize he has been chasing for two years.
The acquisition by Charter, which is backed by Mr. Malone's
Liberty Broadband Corp., would vault the cable operator into the
ranks of the biggest U.S. broadband and pay-television
companies.
The deal came only a month after Time Warner Cable went back on
the block after Comcast terminated the companies' planned $45.2
billion merger in the face of serious pushback from Washington
regulators. A Charter-TWC deal could be in for a stringent review
in Washington as well, some analysts have said.
In the most recent quarter, video revenues totaled $1.1 billion,
up 3.4% from the year before. Internet revenues grew 16.5% to $743
million, due mostly to 393,000 new Internet customers over the past
year, as well as more promotion and higher bundling.
Commercial revenues rose 14% to $278 million, driven by higher
sales to small and medium-size business customers and to carrier
customers.
However, voice revenues fell 7.3% to $135 million, due to
value-based pricing and revenue allocation from higher
bundling.
Overall, Charter posted a loss of $122 million, or $1.09 a
share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $45 million, or 42
cents a share.
Revenues increased to $2.43 billion from $2.26 billion.
The quarter includes a $128 million loss on debt extinguishment,
a $26 million charge related to the Comcast transaction and $19
million of other charges. The increase in net loss was mostly due
to these extra charges.
Analysts had expected earnings of 27 cents on revenue of $2.42
billion.
Charter expects capital expenditure of $1.7 billion in 2015.
Shares have increased about 12% this year through Monday's
close.
Write to Angela Chen at angela.chen@wsj.com
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