Charter Communications, the nation’s third largest MSO, reported Q3 revenues of $1.207 billion, an increase of 4% over last year’s third quarter revenues of $1.166 billion. The increase is due primarily to growth in high-speed data revenues of $54 million or 59%, reflecting 519,800 additional customers since September 2002 including 140,700 in Q3 2003. Video revenues totaled $866 million in the quarter as compared to the prior year’s third quarter revenues of $862 million. Some highlights from the quarter:
- revenue generating units (RGUs) totaled approximately 10,676,700 at the end of Q3, an increase of approximately 511,800 units, or 5% from the 30-Sept-02 totals. Charter said this increase in RGUs was driven by an extensive marketing campaign, including free periods of service, resulting in an increase in high-speed data and digital video customers of 519,800 and 137,100, respectively. These increases were partially offset by a loss of 149,500 analog video customers, or 2% over the past twelve months. RGUs increased approximately 213,200 units, or 2%, as compared to Q2 2003.
- Charter reported sequential net gains of analog and digital video customers of approximately 11,200 and 60,900, respectively, during the third quarter. Q3 analog video customer gain was 0.2%, and quarterly digital video customers increased 2%.
- Charter added approximately 140,700 cable modem customers in Q3, a sequential increase of 10%, during the quarter, bringing the total high-speed data customers served to 1,489,700.
- Income from operations grew 29% year over year to $117 million in Q3
- Capital expenditures totaled $239 million, a decrease of 57% as compared to Q3 2002.
- Charter generated $96 million in free cash flow for the first nine months of the year, an improvement in excess of $1.1 billion as compared to the first nine months of 2002.
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- In September 2003, Charter Communications sold cable systems serving 235,000 subscribers to Atlantic Broadband, a new company formed by ABRY Partners, David J. Keefe and Edward T. Holleran, Jr.. The deal was valued at $765 million and includes cable networks in Miami Beach, Florida, and in certain towns in Delaware, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania.