Telecom?s Rogers Reduces Churn and Income Soars

Toronto-based Rogers Communications Inc. (NYSE: RCI), recently reported that its net income soared 44 percent to $251 million, or about 40 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2007, compared to $174 million or about 17 cents a share in the comparable 2006 period. The company’s revenue grew 13 percent to $2.7 billion.

The company credited the quarterly based largely on strength in its wireless division, including a reduction in customer churn.

Wireless subscriber postpaid net additions were 158,000, while postpaid subscriber monthly churn fell to 1.17 percent from 1.24 percent for postpaid subscribers and to 3.12 percent from 3.14 percent for prepaid subscribers. Wireless postpaid monthly average revenue per user increased 6 percent year-over-year to $73.3.

In addition to wireless strength, the telecommunications firm reported that its cable division ended the quarter with 656,000 residential voice-over-cable telephony subscriber lines, a gain of 65,000 from the third quarter. Rogers’ cable Internet subscriber base grew 46,000 in the quarter to 1.47 million, while base cable subscribers increased by 20,000 to 2.3 million and digital cable households increased by 61,000 to reach 1.5 million.

Rogers is a diversified Canadian communications company.