Charter Communications Inc. reported disappointing third-quarter results, with net income of $48 million compared with $189 million in the year-ago quarter. The decline was driven by an increase in depreciation and amortization in the third quarter of 2017, partly offset by a year-over-year increase in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), the Stamford company said.
Third-quarter 2017 total revenues of $10.5 billion represented a 4.2 percent increase over the prior year period, driven by residential revenue growth of 4.4 percent and commercial revenue growth of 8 percent, partly offset by a decline in advertising revenue of 11.1 percent due to lower political revenue.
The company lost 104,000 video customers in the third quarter, ended Sept. 30, while the nation’s leading cable operator, Comcast, lost 125,000 video subscribers over the same time period.
Meanwhile, Netflix said it added 5.3 million subscribers in all its markets during the third quarter, bringing its U.S. total to nearly 52.8 million and its worldwide base to nearly 109.3 million. Hulu has also been growing; as of July 13, it had 47 million users.
Charter Chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge said the impact of Charter”™s transactions with Time Warner Cable Inc., Legacy Charter and Bright House Networks LLC, completed last year, were also still being felt.
“Our integration is going well and remains on schedule,” Rutledge said. “And despite the complexity that comes with changing the way we do business in 75 percent of our footprint, we continue to generate solid customer, revenue and EBITDA growth.
“Through our integration,” he said, “we are creating one company, with a unified and centralized operating strategy, which will put Charter on a path to be able to grow quickly over a multi-year period.”
