Cablevision Systems Q1 Results Beat View

(RTTNews) - Telecommunications and media company Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC) on Monday reported a 50 percent decline in profit for the first quarter from last year as higher revenues were more than offset by an increase in expenses. However, both revenue and earnings per share for the quarter beat analysts' estimates.

The Bethpage, New York-based company reported first-quarter net income attributable to stockholders of $44.63 million or $0.16 per share, down from $89.76 million or $0.33 per share in the prior-year quarter.

In the latest quarter, the company recorded an expense of $10.50 million regarding the decision in a case relating to Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, a business whose operations were previously discontinued.

Income from continuing operations for the quarter declined to $54.90 million or $0.20 per share from $90.13 million or $0.34 per share in the year-ago period.

On average, 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.17 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net revenues for the quarter grew 3 percent to $1.62 billion from $1.58 billion in the same quarter last year, and beat analysts' consensus estimate of $1.60 billion.

Cable revenues for the quarter grew 2 percent to $1.45 billion, primarily reflecting rate initiatives and continued disciplined pricing strategies. These were partially offset by a decline in customers.

Compared to the year-ago quarter, the company recorded total customer losses of about 6,000 and video customer losses of about 28,000. The company also lost 14,000 voice customers, but gained 7,000 High-speed data customers.

However, average monthly cable revenue per customer or RPC, grew 5 percent from the year-ago quarter to $155.34.

Lightpath revenue increased 5 percent from the year-ago quarter to $91.12 million, reflecting an increase in revenue from Ethernet services.

Meanwhile, other revenues edged up 0.4 percent to $81.78 million, reflecting higher advertising revenue at News 12 Networks, partially offset by lower advertising revenue at Newsday.

On May 1, Cablevision's board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share on each outstanding share of both its Class A and Class B stock. The dividend is payable on June 12, 2015 to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 22, 2015.

Looking ahead, Cablevision CEO James Dolan said, "As we move through the year, we will continue to address evolving consumer demand by expanding our product offerings to provide greater value and flexibility. Connectivity is the wave of the future, and we plan to leverage our industry-leading position to be the preferred choice for consumers in our market."

CVC closed Friday's trading at $20.39. In Monday's pre-market activity, the stock is up $0.11 or 0.54 percent to $20.50.