Steven Cochran
Analyst · JPMorgan. Your line is open
Thanks, Julie. Now, let’s turn to our fourth quarter results. Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2021 were $432.6 million compared to $336.8 million in the prior year quarter, a 28.5% increase. The increase, which included $77.8 million of revenue from Hargray operations, was fueled by a residential HSD increase of 27.6% and a business services revenue increase of 46.2%. Excluding the Hargray operations, our fourth quarter total revenue increased by 5.3%, residential HSD revenues increased by 11.3% and business service revenues increased by 8.3%. Residential HSD PSUs grew by approximately 22,000 on a sequential basis from the third quarter, with approximately 14,000 acquired in the CableAmerica acquisition. Operating expenses were $119.9 million or 27.7% of revenues in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to $99.4 million or 29.5% of revenues in the prior year quarter, a 180 basis point improvement driven largely by the increase in programming cost. Selling, general and administrative expenses were $94.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to $64.7 million in the prior year quarter. These expenses were 21.9% of revenues in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to 19.2% of revenues in the prior year quarter. Net income in the fourth quarter was $64.8 million, which included an $8.9 million non-cash loss on fair value adjustment associated with the call and put options to acquire the remaining equity interest in mega broadband investments. As a reminder, the MBI options are subject to mark-to-market accounting on a quarterly basis. Until these options are exercised or expire, any changes in the assumptions used to determine the fair values could increase or decrease the resulting valuation, which in turn could cause significant non-operating fluctuations in our GAAP financial results from one quarter to the next. Net income per share on a fully diluted basis was $10.54 per share, inclusive of the non-cash loss just mentioned. Adjusted EBITDA was $225.3 million for the fourth quarter, an increase of 25.9% from the prior year quarter or 7% when excluding the impact of Hargray operations. Our adjusted EBITDA margin was 52.1% or 54% when excluding the impact of Hargray operations. Capital expenditures totaled $109.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2021, which equates to 48.8% of adjusted EBITDA. During the quarter, we invested $23.6 million of CapEx for network expansion and $7 million for integration activities, bringing our total for the year to $76.2 million and $16.3 million respectively. Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures was $115.4 million for the fourth quarter, an increase of 11.3% from the prior year quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2021, we distributed $16.6 million in dividends to shareholders, bringing the total distribution for the year to $63.5 million. From a liquidity standpoint, we had approximately $389 million of cash and cash equivalents on hand as of December 31 and we continue to generate significant free cash flow. At quarter end, our debt balance was approximately $3.9 billion, consisting of approximately $2.3 billion in term loans, $920 million in convertible notes, $650 million in unsecured notes, $6 million of finance lease liabilities. We also had approximately $460 million available for additional borrowings under our revolver as of December 31. Overall, our debt to last quarter annualized adjusted EBITDA after netting cash on hand against debt was 3.9x as of December 31. During the quarter, we also made three equity investments, received a dividend and closed an acquisition. On October 1, we made a $25 million investment for a less than 10% equity interest in Point Broadband Holdings LLC, a privately held Internet services provider serving residential and business customers in rural and suburban areas of 10 Eastern United States. On October 18, we completed a minority equity investment for less than 10% ownership interest of Tristar Acquisition I Corp., a special purpose acquisition company for $20.8 million. On November 5, we invested an additional $50 million in Nextlink, increasing our total investment from $27.2 million to $77.2 million. And on December 28, we received a $68.7 million dividend related to our investment in MBI. Given the significant growth in deleveraging during our first year of ownership, they were able to complete a dividend recapitalization, taking their leverage back to 6.2x. And on December 30, as Julie discussed earlier, we acquired certain assets and assumed certain liabilities from CableAmerica, a data video and voice services provider in Central Missouri for $113.1 million in cash on a debt-free basis. Additionally, as Julie mentioned, on January 1, after the quarter ended, we closed on the formation of Clearwave Fiber joint venture, which is intended to accelerate deployment of fiber Internet to residents and businesses in the relevant markets. As a reminder, Clearway Fiber will be deconsolidated from our operating financials beginning with the first quarter of 2022, and our investments will be reflected in Cable One’s financials under the equity method of accounting. The fourth quarter of 2021 revenue and CapEx associated with the operations contributed to Clearwave Fiber were approximately $7.8 million and $17.2 million, respectively. A couple of other items I want to discuss before we take questions. First, I wanted to make note of the timing of our rate changes. Our annual video rate adjustment will be implemented in March this year, while most of our contracted programming and retransmission expense increases took effect on January 1. We expect these timing differences will impact the comparability of first quarter results on a sequential basis. However, we do not believe it will have an effect on our full year adjusted EBITDA growth. As part of our strategic focus on high-speed data and counting cash flows rather than customers, in the fourth quarter of 2021, we made the tactical decision to begin unwinding our bulk cable video offerings. This decision not only prepares our network for the next generation of high-speed data enhancement but also eliminates the timing and energy spent focusing on an unprofitable product offering. We expect this initiative to accelerate our video and customer losses through the first quarter of 2022, but ultimately have a positive impact on margins and adjusted EBITDA growth. On a sequential basis, our organic video subscriber net loss was approximately $21,000 for the fourth quarter or $18,000 if you include the impact from the CableAmerica acquisition. With that, Elliot, we are now ready for questions.