Altice USA Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2019 Results

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Altice USA (NYSE: ATUS) today reports results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2019.

Key Financial Highlights

• Total Revenue grew +2.0% YoY in FY 2019 to $9.76 billion. Total revenue grew +0.8% YoY in Q4 2019 to $2.475 billion, driven by Q4 Residential revenue growth of +0.1% (including Broadband growth of +11.1%), Q4 Business Services revenue growth of +4.1% and Q4 News and Advertising revenue decline of -9.0% (ex-political, News and Advertising grew +10.3% YoY).
• Net Income attributable to stockholders was $138.9 million for FY 2019, or $0.21/share (increased from net income of $18.8 million in FY 2018, or $0.03/share). Net income was $0.3 million in Q4 2019.
• Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ grew +2.5% YoY in FY 2019 to $4.27 billion with a margin of 43.7% (growth of +3.4% and a margin of 44.2% ex-mobile losses). Adjusted EBITDA of $1.085 billion in Q4 2019 declined -1.9% YoY including mobile losses, with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 43.8%. Q4 Adjusted EBITDA excluding mobile losses was in line with prior year (-0.2% YoY) with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 45.0%⁽²⁾.
• Free Cash Flow⁽¹⁾ of $1.20 billion in FY 2019, declined 11.5% YoY, mainly reflecting higher investment in key growth initiatives such as fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and mobile, as well as the timing of working capital outflow, partially offset by lower interest costs. Free Cash Flow of $397 million declined -4.8% YoY in Q4 2019, reflecting the same factors.
• FY 2020 Outlook: The company expects revenue growth (ex-mobile) to accelerate to 2.0% to 2.5% with a further expansion in Adjusted EBITDA margin (ex-mobile). The company continues to target year-end leverage of 4.5-5.0x (L2QA) and expects to complete $1.7 billion in share repurchases in 2020.

Dexter Goei, Altice USA Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are pleased to enter 2020 on the heels of an exceptional December performance, across all of our core businesses. We are seeing particular strength in broadband as we continue to reap the benefits of ongoing investments in our network, including FTTH and DOCSIS 3.1 upgrades. These remain key priorities as we accelerate our ongoing speed upgrades, which include broad-scale availability of Gigabit services as well as enhanced WiFi performance across the footprint. We expect an acceleration in momentum in 2020, including benefits from Altice Mobile and an integrated targeted advertising platform driving our News and Advertising business during a political upcycle. We remain laser focused on innovation and maximizing shareholder value creation, including the resumption of share buybacks in January 2020."

Key Operational Highlights

• Ongoing network investments and the rollout of Altice One supported 2019 broadband and video customer trends, which were in line with prior years despite a temporary uptick in churn in early Q4. The company saw a significant rebound in customer and broadband net additions in December. Altice USA reached 543k unique Altice One customers as of the end 2019 (approximately 17% of total video customers, up from 9% at the end of 2018).
• Total unique Residential customer relationships grew +0.3% YoY in FY 2019 with Residential revenue per customer relationship growth of +1.3% YoY to $143.98, supporting Residential revenue growth of +1.6% YoY (in line with FY 2018 Residential customer growth of +0.2% YoY, revenue per customer relationship growth of +1.3% YoY and revenue growth of +1.5% YoY). In Q4 2019, Residential revenue grew +0.1% YoY with quarterly unique Residential customer relationships down -5k sequentially due to temporary promotional roll-offs and disruption from the completed BSS/OSS integration, all of which was mitigated in December:
  • Residential Broadband RGU quarterly net additions of +7k in Q4 2019 (vs. +22k in Q4 2018), with +17k net additions in December more than offsetting declines in October and November following promotional roll-offs and BSS/OSS integration. Residential broadband net additions of +72k in FY 2019, +1.7% YoY, were in line with prior year (+72k net additions in FY 2018).
  • Residential Video RGU quarterly net losses of -44k in Q4 2019 (vs. -14.2kin Q4 2018), leading to a decline of 3.3% YoY for FY 2019 (versus -2.9% YoY video RGUs in FY 2018).
  • Residential revenue per customer relationship was down slightly (-0.4%) YoY at $142.65 in Q4 2019.
• Business Services revenue grew +4.8% in FY 2019 with growth in Enterprise & Carrier of +3.6% YoY and SMB +5.5% YoY. For Q4 2019, Business Services revenue grew +4.1% YoY in Q4 2019 with growth in Enterprise & Carrier of +1.2% YoY and SMB +5.9% YoY.
• News and Advertising revenue declined -2.3% in FY 2019. Growth driven by a4 and Cheddar was offset by the political cycle in 2H 2019, which is expected to reverse in 2020 (in FY 2019, excluding political, News and Advertising revenue grew +9.9%). News and Advertising revenue declined -9.0% YoY in Q4 2019 (+10.3% YoY growth ex-political).
• Increased demand for higher broadband speed tiers and significant growth in data usage. The average broadband speed taken by Altice USA’s customer base has increased over threefold in the past three years to 213 Mbps at the end of Q4 2019 (from 64 Mbps at the end of 2016) and average household data usage was over 316 GB per month (growth of over 20% YoY). The company observes broadband-only customers on average using 420 GB of data per month, compared to 271 GB per month for video-broadband bundle customers, with video streaming services consistently a key driver of increased demand for higher speeds and greater usage.

FY 2020 Outlook

For the full year 2020, the company expects:

• Revenue growth (ex-mobile) of 2.0% to 2.5%
• Adjusted EBITDA margin (ex-mobile) expansion
• Capital expenditures of $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion
• Year-end Leverage target 4.5x to 5.0x net debt / Adjusted EBITDA (L2QA basis)
• Share repurchases of $1.7 billion

Additional Highlights and Announcements

Agreement to Acquire Assets of Regional Cable Operator Service Electric

Altice USA today announces that it has reached an agreement to acquire substantially all the assets of regional cable operator Service Electric Cable T.V. of New Jersey, Inc., for $150 million in cash, subject to certain closing adjustments and closing conditions. With this acquisition, Altice USA will extend its footprint into neighboring communities to provide its high-quality broadband, video, mobile, and news offerings to thousands of additional homes and businesses in New Jersey. The transaction is expected to close by the third quarter of 2020, subject to receipt of regulatory approval and the satisfaction of necessary closing conditions.

Connectivity and Entertainment

Altice USA’s fiber (FTTH) network rollout accelerated in the past year, reaching over 600k homes ready for service at the end of 2019 (approximately 12% of Optimum’s homes passed). The pace of the fiber rollout is expected to continue to accelerate during 2020, making 1 Gbps fiber internet service available to even more customers. This fiber strategy complements Altice USA’s simultaneous upgrade of its existing hybrid fibercoaxial (HFC) network to DOCSIS 3.1, which further increases the number of homes across Altice USA's footprint able to receive up to 1 Gbps internet services, which launched in the Bronx in early 2020 (increasing the maximum speed available from 400 Mbps previously). 1 Gbps internet is already available in approximately 80% of the Suddenlink footprint due to prior network upgrades.

Altice's fiber network will provide an unparalleled experience to support the most data intensive activities, from streaming 4K ultra-high-definition (UHD) and high-definition (HD) video on multiple devices, enjoying multi-player gaming experiences, video chat, streaming music, high-quality virtual- and augmented-reality experiences, and downloading large files simultaneously on dozens of devices at once. The fiber network is also expected to significantly reduce long-term costs while supporting a better customer experience driven by fewer interactions, lower technical service visit requirements and structurally lower maintenance and power costs.

Altice USA is further enhancing the entertainment and connectivity experience for its customers with Smart WiFi, a whole-home intelligent mesh WiFi system. With Smart WiFi, customers will benefit from one powerful network that uses intelligent technology to seamlessly and simultaneously connect a greater number of devices to the strongest signal, providing a high-quality broadband experience.

Mobile

Following the commercial launch of Altice Mobile in September 2019, during the fourth quarter the company made further enhancements to the service, including the addition of online device sales, new phone options from Apple, Samsung, and Motorola, and increased marketing efforts, including introducing targeted campaigns promoting the introductory loyalty price point to Altice USA’s fixed customer base. These efforts resulted in adding 69k mobile lines in 2019 (+54k net additions in Q4 2019, generating revenue of $18 million for the quarter), reaching penetration of 1.6% of the company's broadband customer base in just over one quarter from launch. The company is in the process of expanding its device line up and omni-channel presence to support further growth.

Corporate and Leadership

The company’s Diversity and Inclusion program, which is focused on strengthening our relationship with the diverse communities we serve as well as creating an inclusive workplace to retain and attract the best talent, remains an ongoing priority. The company is proud to have been recognized in recent months both by the National Association of Minorities in Communications as one of the ‘Top Companies for People of Color’ and by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation for a second year in a row as a ‘Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality.’ As part of our effort to more deeply connect with veterans, Altice USA expanded its low-income Internet product to include eligible military personnel and established partnerships with organizations aimed at helping Altice USA hire more veterans.

Share Repurchases

For the 12 months ending December 2019, Altice USA repurchased an aggregate of 72,668,712 shares for a total purchase price of approximately $1.7 billion, at an average price of $23.21. No repurchases were made during Q4 2019 as the company focused on reaching its year-end leverage target. As of December 31, 2019, Altice USA had 632,995,139 combined Class A and Class B shares outstanding.

On July 30, 2019, the Altice USA Board of Directors authorized an incremental three-year share repurchase program of $5 billion, which took effect following completion of the prior $2 billion repurchase program in Q3 2019. Consistent with this repurchase program, the company expects to complete $1.7 billion of share repurchases in 2020.

Financial and Operational Review

For the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2019, compared to the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2018:

• Total revenue for Altice USA grew +2.0% YoY in FY 2019 to $9.76 billion and +0.8% YoY revenue growth to $2.475 billion in Q4.
• Net Income attributable to stockholders of $138.9 million in FY 2019, or $0.21/share (increased from net income of $18.8 million in FY 2018, or $0.03/share). Net income of $0.3 million in Q4.
• Adjusted EBITDA⁽³⁾ grew +2.5% YoY in FY 2019 to $4.27 billion with a margin of 43.7% (growth of +3.4% and a margin of 44.2% ex-mobile losses). Adjusted EBITDA of $1.085 billion in Q4, declined -1.9% YoY including mobile losses, with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 43.8%. Q4 Adjusted EBITDA was in line with prior year (-0.2% YoY) excluding mobile losses with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 45.0%⁽²⁾.
• For FY 2019 cash capex of $1.36 billion represented 13.9% of revenue, or less than 10% excluding mobile and FTTH / new home build capex. Cash capex was $323 million in Q4, representing 13.0% of revenue (less than 10% excluding mobile and FTTH / new home build capex).
• Operating Free Cash Flow⁽³⁾ for FY 2019 declined -3.3% YoY to $2.91 billion mainly reflecting higher investment in key growth initiatives such as FTTH and mobile, with a decline of -2.9% YoY in Q4 to $762 million.
• Free Cash Flow⁽³⁾ of $1.20 billion in FY 2019 declined 11.5% YoY, mainly reflecting higher investment in key growth initiatives, as well as the timing of working capital outflow, partially offset by lower interest costs. Free Cash Flow of $397 million declined -4.8% YoY in Q4, reflecting the same factors.
• Residential revenue grew +1.6% YoY to $7.82 billion for FY 2019 and +0.1% YoY revenue growth to $1.94 billion in Q4.
• Business Services revenue grew +4.8% in FY 2019 with growth in Enterprise & Carrier of +3.6% YoY and SMB +5.5% YoY. For Q4, Business Services revenue grew +4.1% YoY in Q4 2019 with growth in Enterprise & Carrier of +1.2% YoY and SMB +5.9% YoY. Altice USA continues to have success with its managed services suite of products including security, Smart WiFi, and hosted voice services for both SMB and mid-market enterprise customers. The overall SMB customer base grew by +0.4% YoY driven by increased demand for higher broadband speed tiers.
• News and Advertising revenue declined -2.3% YoY in FY 2019. Growth driven by a4 and Cheddar offset by political cycle in 2H 2019 which is expected to reverse in 2020 (revenue excluding political grew +9.9%). News and Advertising revenue declined -9.0% YoY in Q4 2019 (+10.3% growth ex-political).
• Programming costs increased +3.9% YoY in both FY 2019 and in Q4 2019, due primarily to an increase in contractual programming rates, partially offset by the decrease in video customers. Following recent renewals, programming costs per video customer are expected to increase by mid-to-high single digits going forward (+7.2% in FY 2019 and +6.9% in Q4 2019).
• Net debt at the end of 2019 was $22.146 billion on a reported basis⁽⁴⁾, a decrease of $509 million from the end of the third quarter of 2019 mainly reflecting free cash flow generation in Q4. This represents consolidated L2QA net leverage of 5.1x on a reported basis at the end of December 2019 (5.2x LTM). There are no maturities above $1.1 billion until 2025 (with no bond maturities through 2020) and near-term maturities in the next three years could be covered by ~$2.5 billion revolving credit facility.

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures:

We define Adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP financial measure, as net income (loss) excluding income taxes, other non-operating income or expenses, loss on extinguishment of debt and write-off of deferred financing costs, gain (loss) on interest rate swap contracts, gain (loss) on derivative contracts, gain (loss) on investments and sale of affiliate interests, net, interest expense (including cash interest expense), interest income, depreciation and amortization (including impairments), share-based compensation expense or benefit, restructuring expense or credits and transaction expenses.

We believe Adjusted EBITDA is an appropriate measure for evaluating the operating performance of the Company. Adjusted EBITDA and similar measures with similar titles are common performance measures used by investors, analysts and peers to compare performance in our industry. Internally, we use revenue and Adjusted EBITDA measures as important indicators of our business performance, and evaluate management’s effectiveness with specific reference to these indicators. We believe Adjusted EBITDA provides management and investors a useful measure for period-to-period comparisons of our core business and operating results by excluding items that are not comparable across reporting periods or that do not otherwise relate to the Company’s ongoing operating results. Adjusted EBITDA should be viewed as a supplement to and not a substitute for operating income (loss), net income (loss), and other measures of performance presented in accordance with GAAP. Since Adjusted EBITDA is not a measure of performance calculated in accordance with GAAP, this measure may not be comparable to similar measures with similar titles used by other companies.

We also use Operating Free Cash Flow (defined as Adjusted EBITDA less cash capital expenditures), and Free Cash Flow (defined as net cash flows from operating activities less cash capital expenditures) as indicators of the Company’s financial performance. We believe these measures are one of several benchmarks used by investors, analysts and peers for comparison of performance in the Company’s industry, although they may not be directly comparable to similar measures reported by other companies.

About Altice USA

Altice USA (NYSE: ATUS) is one of the largest broadband communications and video services providers in the United States, delivering broadband, video, mobile, proprietary content and advertising services to more than 4.9 million residential and business customers across 21 states through its Optimum and Suddenlink brands. The company operates a4, an advanced advertising and data business, which provides audience- based, multiscreen advertising solutions to local, regional and national businesses and advertising clients. Altice USA also offers hyper-local, national, international and business news through its News 12, Cheddar and i24NEWS networks.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including the information under the heading "FY 2020 Outlook". These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, all statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this release, including, without limitation, those regarding our intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things: our future financial conditions and performance, results of operations and liquidity; our strategy, plans, objectives, prospects, growth, goals and targets; and future developments in the markets in which we participate or are seeking to participate. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "anticipate", "believe", "could", "estimate", "expect", "forecast", "intend", "may", "plan", "project", "should" or "will" or, in each case, their negative, or other variations or comparable terminology. Where, in any forward- looking statement, we express an expectation or belief as to future results or events, such expectation or belief is expressed in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis, but there can be no assurance that the expectation or belief will result or be achieved or accomplished. To the extent that statements in this release are not recitations of historical fact, such statements constitute forward-looking statements, which, by definition, involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements including risks referred to in our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. You are cautioned to not place undue reliance on Altice USA’s forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it was made. Altice USA specifically disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, as of any future date.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200212005847/en/

Investor Relations
Nick Brown: +1 917 589 9983 / nick.brown@alticeusa.com
Cathy Yao: +1 347 668 8001 / cathy.yao@alticeusa.com

Communications
Lisa Anselmo: +1 929 418 4362 / lisa.anselmo@alticeusa.com

Source: Altice USA

Released February 12, 2020