Mediacom’s fourth-quarter revenue was up 8.3 percent to reach $360.2 million, driven by a surge in phone and data subscriptions and a video rate increase.
The company reported a large loss on derivatives that growth could not compensate for; it led to a Q4 ’08 net loss of just less than $70 million, compared with a net los of $36.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2007.
During the quarter, ARPU increased 8.9 percent to $90.88, and the company added 33,000 revenue-generating units (RGUs).
For the year, revenue increased 8.4 percent to $1.4 billion, but dragged down by its fourth quarter, Mediacom tallied a net loss of $77.4 million, compared with a net loss of $95 million the year prior. RGUs grew 222,000 to 2.95 million.
“It was an excellent year for us, as we solidly executed in all aspects of our business,” said Mediacom Chairman and CEO Rocco B. Commisso. “Despite worsening economic conditions in 2008, we produced record RGU growth, exceeded our financial guidance that was revised upwards three times, and generated our highest annual growth rate in Adjusted OIBDA since 2002,” he said, using an acronym for operating income before taxes and other expenses.
During the quarter, the company sold systems in North Carolina, which it referred to as the Morris Transaction.
Looking ahead, Commisso’s statement said: “In 2009, we are cautiously optimistic that our business will once again show its historical resilience in this recessionary environment and grow in the face of deepening economic pressures across the markets we serve. Equally important, however, is that with a significant decline in planned capital spending, and with our shares outstanding reduced by 30 percent as a result of the Morris Transaction, we expect to deliver in 2009 meaningful and sustainable after-tax free cash flow per share for the first time in our history. Our internal cash flow generation, together with about $650 million of currently available revolving credit commitments, puts Mediacom in the enviable position of avoiding persistently unattractive financing markets until at least mid-2011.”
