Canadian telecoms group Rogers Communications has announced its consolidated financial and operating results for 2005. It reported a net loss for the year of CAD44.6 million (USD38.8 million), down from CAD67.1 million (USD58.4 million) in the previous year, although Q4 losses widened to CAD66.7 million compared to CAD29.1 million in the corresponding three months of 2004. Rogers attributed the increased loss in the last quarter to ‘one-time integration expenses, the amortisation of intangibles assumed on acquisition and the fact that the prior year’s quarter reflects foreign exchange gains and other income totalling CAD47 million.’ Operating revenues increased by 33.4% year-on-year in 2005 to CAD7.482 billion (USD6.515 billion), up from CAD5.608 billion (USD4.88 billion), whilst operating profit rose 23.6% to CAD2.144 billion, up from CAD1.734 billion in 2004.
The group’s mobile arm Rogers Wireless reported 216,300 net subscriber additions in the fourth quarter of 2005, down from 262,900 y-o-y, taking its end-year subscribers total to 6.168 million. Rogers Cable added 8,000 basic cable customers and 62,000 new high speed internet users in the fourth quarter; it signed up a total of 209,000 new broadband customers in 2005. The cable division continued to expand the availability of its Home Phone voice-over-cable telephony service and closed Q4 with 47,900 subscribers.