Cablevision Systems Corporation (CVC) June 2008 Earnings Notes
Press Release
-EPS 34c vs. 11c est. Revenue $1.71B vs. $1.64B est.
-Revenue grew 9%. Added 7,000 basic subscribers. Added 120,000 digital video customers. Added 52,000 Optimum online customers. Added 81,000 Optimum Voice customers.
-$317.5 million in FCF for 6 months of 2008 vs. $94.4M last year
-Penetration: Basic Video to Homes Passed 66.7%, iO Digital to Basic 89.1%, Optimum Online to Homes Passed 51%, Optimum Voice to Homes Passed 37.6%
-Average Monthly Revenue per Basic Video Customer (RPS) $132.29 vs. $121.01 a year ago
-$805.3M in cash, $11.9B in debt
Conference Call
-”very strong second quarter” “cable operations reported double-digit cash flow growth driven by strong subscriber increases in each of our consumer products”
-Spent $20M this quarter on WiFi construction project
-3.13 million basic video customers, 3.34 million total customers, 2.79 million digital video customers, 1.25 million HD customers (45% of digital video base). This week we’re launched 15 new HD channels bringing the total number to 60
-Optimum Light Path grew 20% with 2900 total buildings wired for state of the art ethernet services
-MSG renovation will be done by 2011/2012 Knicks and Rangers season
-Newsday acquisition for $650M
-”We have a strong desire to close the value gap between our operating performance and the market value of our debt and stock… We are considering and actively exploring alternatives that may close this gap”
Q&A
-Lightpath Network is all fiber
-Verizon service 1.1M homes in their service footprint
-Some places in Long Island they have 60% penetration in voice. They will launch WiFi services next year. Wireline customers will get free wireless service
-WiFi wid-band project / DOCSYS 3.0 will provide bandwidth of over 100 mega-bits. Total capital over 3 year budget cycle is $100 per customer or $315 million
-Marketing is flat, churn is down, margins are up
Take-aways
-Very good performance and growth on subs and FCF. They are beating back Verizon.
-Free wireless service next year for their voice customers is a pretty cool killer app feature.
-Will the “Dolan discount” disappear if they do something shareholder friendly? Dividend? Stock buy back? Spin-out the content division?