Lopend"Warren"Buffet schreef op 27 februari 2018 22:22:
Altice USA swings to profit on tax-reform benefit
Shannon Bond in New York 14 MINUTES AGO
A $2.4bn benefit from US tax reform helped Altice USA swing to profit in the fourth quarter as the US’s fourth-largest cable operator prepares to spin off from its European parent company, Patrick Drahi’s Altice NV.
Net income attributable to Altice USA shareholders was $2.25bn, or $3.06 a share, in the final three months of 2017, compared with a loss of $237m, or 36 cents a share, in the same quarter of 2016.
Excluding the tax benefit and other items, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose 12.2 per cent to $1.04bn. Adjusted ebitda margin improved to 44.1 per cent from 40.3 per cent a year ago.
“Tax reform is going to have a positive impact on us specifically from a cash flow savings standpoint,” said Dexter Goei, chief executive. He said the company is considering accelerating its investment in the high-speed fibre network it is building as a result of the tax boon.
Revenue rose 2.6 per cent to $2.37bn, slightly above the $2.36bn analysts were expecting, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Sales were lifted by growth in broadband, business services and advertising revenue.
Altice USA is being spun off to existing shareholders as part of a wide-ranging organisational shake-up and restructuring aimed at allaying investor concerns over the viability of the debt-laden Altice NV.
Mr Drahi, who founded Altice NV through a series of ambitious, leveraged deals in the US, France, Portugal and Israel, will remain in control of Altice USA and serve as its chairman after the expected completion of the separation the second quarter.
The split is meant to allow the companies to be better managed in their respective regions, and for the faster-growing Altice USA to expand its footprint in the US while deleveraging and turning round operations in Europe.
Altice USA was created from the acquisitions of two regional cable groups, Suddenlink and Optimum, in recent years. Mr Goei has focused on deleveraging, cutting costs and improving its offerings to customers.
The company’s net debt stood at $20.7bn at the end of the fourth quarter. It has reduced its target leverage range of 4.5 to 5.0 times net debt to ebitda as a result of the planned spin off.
Like other cable providers, Altice USA’s business is feeling the effects of the growing popularity of streaming video from services including Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, which are fuelling demand for broadband but prompting many customers to cut the cord on traditional pay-television packages. The company added a net 25,000 residential broadband customers in the quarter, down from 36,000 last year. Losses of pay-TV subscribers accelerated to 25,000 from 21,000.
In addition to its planned high-speed fibre rollout, Altice USA has also invested in a new cloud-based “home entertainment hub” to replacing traditional cable boxes, modems and routers, and has struck a deal with Sprint to sell wireless service starting in 2019.