Cablevision Systems Corp. CVC reported strong financial results in the first quarter of 2015 with both the top and the bottom line surpassing the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate. Notably, average monthly cable revenue per customer increased significantly. Cablevision Systems currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Quarterly GAAP net income from continuing operations was $44.6 million or 16 cents per share compared with $89.8 million or 33 cents per share in the prior-year quarter. First-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 20 cents outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 17 cents.
Total revenue in the reported quarter came in at $1,614.8 million, up 2.5% year over year and also above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,606 million.
Quarterly operating income stood at $223.8 million against $207.1 million in the comparable quarter of last year. Operating margin stood at 13.9% compared with 13.1% in the prior-year quarter. Quarterly average monthly cable revenue per customer was $155.34 compared with $148.22 in the year-ago quarter.
In first-quarter 2015, Cablevision generated approximately $215.3 million of cash from operations against $283.7 million in the year-ago quarter. Free cash flow in the reported quarter was $49 million against $98.1 million in the prior-year quarter. As of Mar 31, 2015, the company had $884.4 million of cash and cash equivalents and $9,719.4 million of outstanding debt.
Segment Wise Revenues
The Cable segment’s revenues stood at $1,451.5 million, up 2.4% year over year. Within this segment, Video revenues totaled $801 million, up 1% year over year. High-Speed data revenues were $363 million, up 4.6% year over year. Voice revenues were $232 million, up 5.5% year over year. Advertising revenues grossed $31 million, down 3.1% year over year. Other revenues were $25 million, flat year over year. The Lightpath segment’s revenues came in at $91.1 million, up 5% year over year. Other revenues were $81.8 million, up 0.4% year over year.
Subscribers Statistics
As of Mar 31, 2015, Cablevision had 2.653 million video subscribers, 2.767 million high-speed data subscribers and 2.215 million voice subscribers. In the reported quarter, the company lost 28,000 video subscribers, 14,000 voice customers but gained 7,000 high-speed data users.
Latest Development
Recently, Cablevision entered into an agreement with online video streaming service provider Hulu to offer the latter’s on-demand TV shows and movies to its Optimum Plan customers. Hulu’s subscriptions service has received commendable market traction despite stiff competition from online streaming behemoths like Netflix Inc. NFLX and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN.
Cablevision’s decision to offer Hulu services is an attempt by the company to minimize its video customer churn rate. In Mar 2015, Cablevision announced its decision to launch HBO's online standalone streaming service, HBO Now. HBO is a division of Time Warner Inc. (TWX.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Be the first to comment