Hawaiian Telcom continued to generate solid TV subscriber growth but lost money for the sixth straight quarter as more consumers abandoned their landlines.
The state’s largest technology and telecommunications company, which is awaiting regulatory approval of its $650 million cash-and-stock sale to Cincinnati Bell, reported Tuesday that its fourth-quarter loss widened to $9.1 million, or 78 cents a share, from a loss of $200,000, or 2 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.
Hawaiian Telcom said regulatory review processes for Cincinnati Bell’s acquisition are well underway with the Federal Communications Commission and the state Public Utilities Commission and that the transaction is expected to close as soon as all regulatory approvals and other closing conditions are met.
FOURTH-QUARTER LOSS
$9.1 million
YEAR-EARLIER LOSS
$200,000
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For the year, Hawaiian Telcom lost $107.2 million, or $9.27 a share, primarily due to an $88 million income tax provision. In 2016 the company earned $1.1 million, or 10 cents a share.
“The fiber investments we have made in our network provide a solid foundation for us to transform our company,” Hawaiian Telcom CEO Scott Barber said in a statement. “Together with Cincinnati Bell, we are confident that we will be able to leverage our combined scale, expanded capabilities, and increased fiber investments to drive sustainable growth, cash-flow generation, and bring long-term benefits for our customers and other stakeholders.”
Revenue fell 5.4 percent to $91.6 million in the fourth quarter from $96.8 million in the year-earlier period and declined 6.2 percent to $368.4 million for the year from $393 million in 2016.
Hawaiian Telcom’s TV subscriber growth, which has now risen for 22 straight quarters, boosted TV revenue 4.1 percent to $11.1 million in the fourth quarter from the year-earlier period. TV revenue for the year increased 7.5 percent $43.6 million as subscribers rose 8.7 percent to 45,183.
Demand also was robust for the company’s high-bandwidth fiber internet products with the number of business internet subscribers on package with 50 megabits per second to 1 gigabits per second speeds jumping 57.4 percent year over year and 17.2 percent from the third quarter.
For the year, the company’s consumer landline revenue tumbled 11.5 percent to $65 million while revenue from consumer internet services fell 7.7 percent to $26.8 million.
Hawaiian Telcom’s stock slipped 22 cents to $27.73 on Tuesday after the financial results were released.