By Chelsey Dulaney
Charter Communications Inc. said stronger video and advertising
revenue helped drive better-than-expected revenue in its fourth
quarter.
Charter said it had 11.4 million residential customer
relationships in the latest period, up from 10.8 million a year
ago. Video customers edged down slightly to 4.16 million from 4.18
million a year earlier.
Charter has struggled as consumers have turned away from
more-traditional forms of pay television toward Internet-based
entertainment services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. The
company has worked to make its video package more competitive by
adding more high-definition channels and video on demand
offerings.
Internet customers grew 9% to 4.77 million, while voice
subscribers posted a 7% increase to 2.44 million.
Charter said its residential customer relationships grew by
73,000 in the quarter, as its residential video subscribers grew by
3,000 in the quarter, compared with a loss of 2,000 a year earlier.
Charter has struggled as consumers have turned away from
more-traditional forms of pay television toward Internet-based
entertainment services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. The
company has worked to make its video package more competitive by
adding more high-definition channels and video on demand
offerings.
In the latest quarter, Charter added 104,000 residential
Internet customers, up from 93,000 a year earlier. Charter added
50,000 residential voice subscribers in the quarter, down from
56,000 a year earlier.
Video remained Charter's biggest top-line contributor, posting
$1.13 billion in revenue, an increase of 8.1% over the year-ago
period.
Advertising revenue surged 28.9% to $107 million in the
quarter.
Charter also posted strong growth in its commercial business,
with revenue growing 16.1% to $262 million.
Overall, the company posted a loss of $48 million, or 44 cents a
share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $39 million, or 35
cents a share, a year earlier.
Revenue grew 9.9% to $2.36 billion.
Analysts had expected $2.33 billion in revenue, according to
Thomson Reuters.
Charter is forming a joint venture with Comcast Corp. called
GreatLand Connections Inc., which will serve 11 states across the
Midwest and Southeast. Additionally, Charter has agreed to pay
about $7.3 billion in cash for 1.4 million existing Time Warner
Cable Inc. customers, while it will swap another 1.6 million
customers with Comcast. Those moves are offshoots of Comcast's $45
billion agreement to buy Time Warner Cable, which Charter had
itself sought to acquire.
Charter's latest quarter reflects about $76 million in expenses
related to the Comcast transactions, the company said, while the
prior-year period included a $36 million tax benefit.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com
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