Rogers Communications’ annual profits up 57%

Canadian cable and wireless group Rogers Communications has reported a 57% increase in annual net income for 2008 to CAD1.002 billion (USD794 million), on operating revenues that rose by 12% to CAD11.335 billion. Wireless subscriber net additions totalled 199,000 in the fourth quarter, including 158,000 new post-paid users, taking the total customer base to 7.942 million, and 4Q post-paid monthly average revenue per user increased 2% year-on-year to CAD74.71, driven in part by a 36% growth in the company’s quarterly data revenue to CAD262 million, representing approximately 18% of wireless network revenue, while mobile churn was further reduced to 1.12%. The wireless division activated more than 400,000 3G/3.5G devices during the October-December period, approximately 40% of which were new subscriptions. The cable unit’s broadband internet subscriber base grew during the fourth quarter by 19,000 to 1.582 million, and digital cable households increased by 61,000 to reach 1.550 million. Rogers ended the year with 840,000 residential voice-over-cable telephony lines, reflecting net additions of 40,000 lines in three months.