(Toronto) Rogers Communications reported first-quarter profit of $256 million, down from $511 million a year ago, as the company faced higher costs related to its acquisition efforts and restructuring of Shaw Communications.
The company says earnings were 46 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, down from $1.00 per diluted share at the same time last year.
Revenue totaled $4.90 billion, up from $3.84 billion a year earlier, helped by growth in its cable and wireless businesses.
Rogers says wireless revenues totaled $2.53 billion in the quarter, up from $2.35 billion a year earlier, while cable revenues increased to $1.96 billion from $1.02 billion a year ago. is a year old, boosted by the Shaw acquisition.
Rogers’ media revenues were $479 million, down from $505 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Rogers says it earned 99 cents per diluted share in its most recent quarter, down from $1.09 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.
“We continued to deliver industry-leading growth in the first quarter, which represents our ninth consecutive quarter of growth and momentum,” President and CEO Tony Staffieri said in a press release.
“One year after the merger with Shaw, more Canadians are still choosing Rogers above any other provider in Canada and we are a full year ahead in terms of achieving our synergy targets “, he added.
The company’s overall monthly attrition rate for net postpaid wireless subscribers – a closely watched industry metric for those who canceled their service – was 1.1%, up from 0 .79% during the previous first quarter.
The company’s average monthly revenue per mobile phone user was $58.06, compared to $57.26 in the first quarter of last year.
“The increase in ARPU (average revenue per subscriber) of mobile telephone services for the quarter under study mainly results from changes affecting subscribers,” we can read in the press release.
Company in this dispatch: (TSX: RCI. B)