Charter Announces Third Quarter 2024 Results

STAMFORD, Conn., Nov. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Charter Communications, Inc. (along with its subsidiaries, the "Company" or "Charter"), which operates the Spectrum brand, today reported financial and operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024.

• Third quarter total Internet customers decreased by 110,000. As of September 30, 2024, Charter served 30.3 million Internet customers.
• Third quarter total mobile lines increased by 545,000. As of September 30, 2024, Charter served 9.4 million mobile lines.
• As of September 30, 2024, Charter had a total of 31.7 million customer relationships, excluding mobile-only relationships.
• Third quarter revenue of $13.8 billion grew by 1.6% year-over-year, driven by residential mobile service revenue growth of 37.6% and residential Internet revenue growth of 1.7%.
• Net income attributable to Charter shareholders totaled $1.3 billion in the third quarter.
• Third quarter Adjusted EBITDA¹ of $5.6 billion grew by 3.6% year-over-year.
• Third quarter capital expenditures totaled $2.6 billion and included $1.1 billion of line extensions.
• Third quarter net cash flows from operating activities totaled $3.9 billion, in-line with the prior year period.
• Third quarter free cash flow¹ of $1.6 billion increased from $1.1 billion in the prior year, primarily driven by lower capital expenditures and higher Adjusted EBITDA.
• During the third quarter, Charter purchased 844 thousand shares of Charter Class A common stock and Charter Communications Holdings, LLC ("Charter Holdings") common units for $262 million.

"We executed well during the third quarter, building on our operating strategy and foundational investments," said Chris Winfrey, President and CEO of Charter. "Now and in the future, we have the best, fully deployed network uniquely capable of delivering seamless connectivity and entertainment, everywhere we operate. We have pricing and packaging that saves customers money with the best products, and a service capability and investment that has yet to be fully realized as a competitive advantage."

In September, Spectrum launched a new brand platform, Life Unlimited, which emphasizes the power of Spectrum's advanced network and cutting-edge connectivity products and services to create opportunities and remove barriers to help customers live their best lives. As part of its new brand platform, Spectrum launched a new and simplified pricing strategy that better utilizes its seamless connectivity and entertainment products to offer lower promotional and persistent bundled pricing to drive growth. Additionally, Spectrum announced new customer commitments focused on reliable connectivity, transparency, exceptional service and a focus on always improving.

Third quarter total Internet customers decreased by 110,000, driven by the end of the FCC's Affordable Connectivity Program ("ACP") in the second quarter, compared to an increase of 63,000 during the third quarter of 2023. Spectrum Internet^® delivers the fastest Internet speeds¹ in the nation. Spectrum is evolving its connectivity network to offer symmetrical and multi-gigabit Internet speeds across its entire footprint and has launched symmetrical Internet service in eight markets. Unlike competitors, Spectrum upgrades its network for all households and can do so at a much lower cost. Spectrum Advanced WiFi, a managed WiFi service that provides customers an optimized home network while providing greater control of connected devices with enhanced security and privacy is available to all Spectrum Internet customers.

Total video customers decreased by 294,000 in the third quarter of 2024, compared to a decline of 327,000 in the third quarter of 2023. As of September 30, 2024, Charter had 13.0 million total video customers. Spectrum TV Select video customers will soon receive up to $80 per month of programmers' streaming application retail value at no extra cost, including the ad-supported versions of Max, Disney+, Peacock, Paramount+, ESPN+, AMC+, Discovery+, BET+, ViX, and Tennis Channel Plus. This programmer streaming application inclusion is part of Charter's broader video evolution strategy to provide flexible packages with enhanced value, whether through full packages with seamless entertainment, smaller video packages, or a suite of a-la-carte programmer application options for broadband-only customers.

During the third quarter of 2024, total wireline voice customers declined by 288,000, compared to a decline of 286,000 in the third quarter of 2023. As of September 30, 2024, Charter had 7.2 million total wireline voice customers.

During the third quarter of 2024, Charter added 545,000 total mobile lines, compared to growth of 594,000 during the third quarter of 2023. Spectrum Mobile™ is available to all new and existing Spectrum Internet customers and offers the fastest overall speeds,² with plans that include 5G access, do not require contracts and include taxes and fees in the price. Spectrum Mobile is central to Charter's converged network strategy to provide consumers a differentiated connectivity experience with highly competitive, simple data plans and pricing.

Charter continues to work with federal, state and local governments to bring Spectrum Internet to unserved and underserved communities. During the third quarter of 2024, Charter activated 114,000 subsidized rural passings. Within Charter's subsidized rural footprint, total customer relationships increased by 41,000 in the third quarter of 2024.

Revenues

Third quarter revenue increased by 1.6% year-over-year to $13.8 billion, driven by growth in residential mobile service, residential Internet, advertising and other revenues, partly offset by lower residential video revenue. Year-over-year revenue growth was favorably impacted by $68 million of total customer credits in the prior year period related to the temporary loss of Disney programming in September 2023.

Residential revenue totaled $10.8 billion in the third quarter, an increase of 0.3% year-over-year. Year-over-year revenue growth was favorably impacted by $63 million of residential customer credits in the prior year period related to the temporary loss of Disney programming in September 2023.

Third quarter 2024 monthly residential revenue per residential customer totaled $121.47, and increased by 1.8% compared to the prior year period. The growth was driven by promotional rate step-ups, rate adjustments, the growth of Spectrum Mobile and $63 million of residential customer credits in the prior year period related to the temporary loss of Disney programming in September 2023, partly offset by a lower mix of video customer relationships and a higher mix of lower priced video packages within Charter's video customer base.

Internet revenue grew by 1.7% year-over-year to $5.9 billion, driven by promotional rate step-ups and rate adjustments, partly offset by lower bundled revenue allocation and a decline in Internet customers during the last year.

Video revenue totaled $3.7 billion in the third quarter, a decrease of 6.7% compared to the prior year period, driven by a decline in video customers during the last year and a higher mix of lower priced video packages within Charter's video customer base, partly offset by promotional rate step-ups, video rate adjustments that pass through programmer rate increases and the aforementioned $63 million of residential customer credits recorded in September 2023.

Voice revenue decreased by 5.0% year-over-year to $360 million, driven by a decline in wireline voice customers over the last twelve months, partly offset by voice rate adjustments.

Third quarter mobile service revenue totaled $801 million, an increase of 37.6% year-over-year, driven by mobile line growth and higher bundled revenue allocation.

Commercial revenue increased by 2.0% year-over-year to $1.8 billion, driven by enterprise and SMB revenue growth of 3.7% and 1.0% year-over-year, respectively. The year-over-year increase in third quarter 2024 SMB revenue was driven by higher monthly SMB revenue per SMB customer, primarily due to rate adjustments. Enterprise revenue excluding wholesale increased by 5.9% year-over-year, mostly reflecting PSU growth.

Third quarter advertising sales revenue of $452 million increased by 18.1% compared to the year-ago quarter, primarily driven by higher political revenue. Excluding political revenue in both periods, advertising sales revenue decreased by 6.3% year-over-year due to a more challenged advertising market, partly offset by higher advanced advertising revenue.

Other revenue totaled $756 million in the third quarter, an increase of 11.6% compared to the third quarter of 2023, primarily driven by higher mobile device sales.

Operating Costs and Expenses

Third quarter programming costs decreased by $259 million, or 10.0% as compared to the third quarter of 2023, reflecting fewer video customers and a higher mix of lower cost packages within Charter's video customer base, partly offset by contractual programming rate increases and renewals and a $61 million benefit in the prior year period related to the temporary loss of Disney programming in September 2023. 

Other costs of revenue increased by $219 million, or 15.8% year-over-year, primarily driven by higher mobile device sales and mobile service direct costs.

Costs to service customers decreased by $12 million, or 0.5% year-over-year, primarily due to lower labor costs.

Sales and marketing expenses increased by $40 million, or 4.4% year-over-year, given Spectrum's continued focus on driving growth and the launch of its new brand platform, Life Unlimited.

Other expenses increased by $25 million, or 2.3% as compared to the third quarter of 2023.

Net Income Attributable to Charter Shareholders

Net income attributable to Charter shareholders totaled $1.3 billion in the third quarter of 2024, compared to $1.3 billion in the third quarter of 2023, with higher Adjusted EBITDA mostly offset by higher other expenses, net primarily due to non-cash changes in the value of financial instruments.

 Net income per basic common share attributable to Charter shareholders totaled $8.99 in the third quarter of 2024 compared to $8.42 during the same period last year. The increase was primarily the result of the factors described above in addition to a 4.5% decrease in basic weighted average common shares outstanding versus the prior year period.

Adjusted EBITDA

Third quarter Adjusted EBITDA of $5.6 billion grew by 3.6% year-over-year, reflecting growth in revenue and operating expenses of 1.6% and 0.2%, respectively.

Capital Expenditures

Capital expenditures totaled $2.6 billion in the third quarter of 2024, a decrease of $398 million compared to the third quarter of 2023, driven by lower spend on CPE and upgrade/rebuild (primarily network evolution). Line extensions capital expenditures totaled $1.1 billion in the third quarter of 2024, driven by Charter's subsidized rural construction initiative and continued network expansion across residential and commercial greenfield and market fill-in opportunities.

Charter now expects full year 2024 capital expenditures to total approximately $11.5 billion, a decrease from Charter's previous expectation of approximately $12.0 billion. The decrease primarily reflects lower expected network evolution and line extension spend in 2024, partly offset by higher expected rebuild spend related to plant restoration following recent hurricanes. Charter now expects full year 2024 network evolution spend of approximately $1.1 billion versus prior expectations of approximately $1.6 billion, due to the timing of software certification and integration. Charter now expects full year 2024 line extensions spend of approximately $4.3 billion versus $4.5 billion previously, reflecting a temporary shift in labor resources for plant restoration efforts following hurricanes Helene and Milton. The actual amount of capital expenditures in 2024 will depend on a number of factors including, but not limited to, the pace of Charter's network evolution and expansion initiatives, supply chain timing and growth rates in Charter's residential and commercial businesses.

Cash Flow and Free Cash Flow

During the third quarter of 2024, net cash flows from operating activities totaled $3.9 billion, in-line with the prior year quarter, with higher Adjusted EBITDA offset by higher cash taxes.

Free cash flow in the third quarter of 2024 totaled $1.6 billion, an increase of $522 million compared to the third quarter of 2023. The year-over-year increase in free cash flow was primarily driven by lower capital expenditures and a more favorable change in accrued expenses related to capital expenditures.

Liquidity & Financing

As of September 30, 2024, total principal amount of debt was $95.1 billion and Charter's credit facilities provided approximately $5.5 billion of additional liquidity in excess of Charter's $721 million cash position.

Share Repurchases

During the three months ended September 30, 2024, Charter purchased 844 thousand shares of Charter Class A common stock and Charter Holdings common units for $262 million.

Webcast

Charter will host a webcast on Friday, November 1, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) related to the contents of this release.

The webcast can be accessed live via the Company's investor relations website at ir.charter.com. Participants should go to the webcast link no later than 10 minutes prior to the start time to register. The webcast will be archived at ir.charter.com two hours after completion of the webcast.

Additional Information Available on Website

The information in this press release should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and footnotes contained in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, which will be posted on the "Results & SEC Filings" section of the Company's investor relations website at ir.charter.com, when it is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). A slide presentation to accompany the conference call and a trending schedule containing historical customer and financial data will also be available in the "Results & SEC Filings" section.

Use of Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow Information

The Company uses certain measures that are not defined by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") to evaluate various aspects of its business. Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow are non-GAAP financial measures and should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, net income attributable to Charter shareholders and net cash flows from operating activities reported in accordance with GAAP. These terms, as defined by Charter, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow are reconciled to net income attributable to Charter shareholders and net cash flows from operating activities, respectively, in the Addendum to this release.

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income attributable to Charter shareholders plus net income attributable to noncontrolling interest, net interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, stock compensation expense, other income (expenses), net and other operating (income) expenses, net, such as special charges and (gain) loss on sale or retirement of assets. As such, it eliminates the significant non-cash depreciation and amortization expense that results from the capital-intensive nature of the Company's businesses as well as other non-cash or special items, and is unaffected by the Company's capital structure or investment activities. However, this measure is limited in that it does not reflect the periodic costs of certain capitalized tangible and intangible assets used in generating revenues and the cash cost of financing. These costs are evaluated through other financial measures.     

Free cash flow is defined as net cash flows from operating activities, less capital expenditures and changes in accrued expenses related to capital expenditures.   

Management and Charter's board of directors use Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow to assess Charter's performance and its ability to service its debt, fund operations and make additional investments with internally generated funds. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA generally correlates to the leverage ratio calculation under the Company's credit facilities or outstanding notes to determine compliance with the covenants contained in the facilities and notes (all such documents have been previously filed with the SEC). For the purpose of calculating compliance with leverage covenants, the Company uses Adjusted EBITDA, as presented, excluding certain expenses paid by its operating subsidiaries to other Charter entities. The Company's debt covenants refer to these expenses as management fees, which were $373 million and $345 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and $1.1 billion and $1.1 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

About Charter

Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) is a leading broadband connectivity company and cable operator with services available to more than 58 million homes and businesses in 41 states through its Spectrum brand. Over an advanced communications network, the Company offers a full range of state-of-the-art residential and business services including Spectrum Internet^®, TV, Mobile and Voice.

For small and medium-sized companies, Spectrum Business^® delivers the same suite of broadband products and services coupled with special features and applications to enhance productivity, while for larger businesses and government entities, Spectrum Enterprise^® provides highly customized, fiber-based solutions. Spectrum Reach^® delivers tailored advertising and production for the modern media landscape. The Company also distributes award-winning news coverage and sports programming to its customers through Spectrum Networks. More information about Charter can be found at corporate.charter.com.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This communication includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, regarding, among other things, our plans, strategies and prospects, both business and financial.  Although we believe that our plans, intentions and expectations as reflected in or suggested by these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or realize these plans, intentions or expectations.  Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions including, without limitation, the factors described under "Risk Factors" from time to time in our filings with the SEC.  Many of the forward-looking statements contained in this communication may be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "should," "planned," "will," "may," "intend," "estimated," "aim," "on track," "target," "opportunity," "tentative," "positioning," "designed," "create," "predict," "project," "initiatives," "seek," "would," "could," "continue," "ongoing," "upside," "increases," "grow," "focused on" and "potential," among others.  Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements we make in this communication are set forth in our annual report on Form 10-K, and in other reports or documents that we file from time to time with the SEC, and include, but are not limited to:

• our ability to sustain and grow revenues and cash flow from operations by offering Internet, video, voice, mobile, advertising and other services to residential and commercial customers, to adequately meet the customer experience demands in our service areas and to maintain and grow our customer base, particularly in the face of increasingly aggressive competition, the need for innovation and the related capital expenditures;
• the impact of competition from other market participants, including but not limited to incumbent telephone companies, direct broadcast satellite ("DBS") operators, wireless broadband and telephone providers, digital subscriber line ("DSL") providers, fiber to the home providers and providers of video content over broadband Internet connections;
• general business conditions, unemployment levels and the level of activity in the housing sector and economic uncertainty or downturn;
• our ability to obtain programming at reasonable prices or to raise prices to offset, in whole or in part, the effects of higher programming costs (including retransmission consents and distribution requirements);
• our ability to develop and deploy new products and technologies including consumer services and service platforms;
• any events that disrupt our networks, information systems or properties and impair our operating activities or our reputation;
• the effects of governmental regulation on our business including subsidies to consumers, subsidies and incentives for competitors, costs, disruptions and possible limitations on operating flexibility related to, and our ability to comply with, regulatory conditions applicable to us;
• the ability to hire and retain key personnel;
• our ability to procure necessary services and equipment from our vendors in a timely manner and at reasonable costs including in connection with our network evolution and rural construction initiatives;
• the availability and access, in general, of funds to meet our debt obligations prior to or when they become due and to fund our operations and necessary capital expenditures, either through (i) cash on hand, (ii) free cash flow, or (iii) access to the capital or credit markets; and
• our ability to comply with all covenants in our indentures and credit facilities, any violation of which, if not cured in a timely manner, could trigger a default of our other obligations under cross-default provisions.

All forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.  We are under no duty or obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this communication.