TORONTO - Rogers Communications Inc. has reported an 84 per cent increase in third-quarter net income to $495 million as operating revenue grew 14 per cent from a year ago to $2.98 billion.
Canada's largest cable-TV and mobile-phone operator said Tuesday its July-September operating profit was up 10 per cent to $1.09 billion. Earnings per share of 78 cents compared with a year-earlier net profit of $269 million or 42 cents per share on revenue of $2.61 billion.
CEO Ted Rogers noted that the strong results came "in the face of an increasingly challenging economic backdrop which we are well financed to endure."
He added that the numbers reflect "the substantial and very successful investment Rogers has made to bring Apple's iPhone 3G to more than a quarter-million Canadians over a very short period of time."
He added that the investment related to the July 11 launch of the iPhone "will provide considerable returns in the form of higher revenue per customer and lower churn in subsequent periods."
The company said it activated 255,000 iPhones during the quarter - two-thirds for existing Rogers customers - as wireless subscriber net additions totalled 239,000, with average monthly revenue per postpaid user up four per cent from a year ago to $78.46.
Rogers Cable's Internet subscriber count grew by 29,000 during the quarter to 1.6 million, and digital cable households increased by 58,000 to 1.5 million, of which more than 500,000 get high-definition TV services.
Cable ended September with 800,000 residential voice-over-cable telephone lines -- 35 per cent of total basic cable subscribers -- up by 55,000 on the quarter.
The company noted that it has $1.8 billion of credit available under a $2.4-billion bank facility, "which, along with no debt maturities until May 2011, combines to provide a position of substantial liquidity."
