Charter Communications posts soaring second-quarter profits

Driven by its acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks for about $67 billion, Stamford-headquartered Charter Communications posted a second-quarter profit of $3.07 billion or $15.17 cents per share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $122 million or $1.21 a share. On a pro forma basis, per-share earnings rose to $0.99 from $0.39, while revenue rose 6.6 percent to $9.99 billion.

Charter ended the period with basic video customer losses of about 152,000, compared with the 170,000-plus it lost in the same period last year. High-speed data additions increased to 236,000 from 157,000 in 2015, while phone customers increased by 83,000 compared to 214,000 in the prior year.

“Our organization is in place, we are executing on our plans and our track record at Charter shows that our operating model, founded on providing high quality products and service at great prices, works,” said Charter Chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge. “We will apply that model as quickly as possible to our new assets, putting our larger company on a long-term growth trajectory, and building greater value for our shareholders.”