Charter Posts Wider Loss on Deal Financing Costs

By Lisa Beilfuss 

Charter Communications Inc. posted a much wider-than-expected loss in its first quarter as the company booked steep financing expenses associated with its pending acquisition of Time Warner Cable Inc.

Earlier this week, federal regulators blessed the cable giants' $55 billion merger, approval that is conditioned on certain concessions designed to ensure the merged company doesn't suffocate the growth of rival online video providers such as Netflix Inc. and Hulu.

The tie-up will create the second-biggest broadband provider in the U.S., after Comcast Corp., and the third-largest pay TV company. Charter jumped in with a bid last year after Comcast's proposed takeover of Time Warner Cable collapsed under regulatory scrutiny.

On Thursday, the company attributed its first-quarter loss, which more than doubled from a year earlier, to a $165 million increase in interest expense driven by the Time Warner deal and its acquisition of smaller, closely held cable operator Bright House Networks.

The charge offset a 7.1% rise in revenue, driven by Internet and video demand and higher sales to businesses. Internet revenue rose 12% as the company added 458,000 customers during the quarter, and video sales edged 3.7% higher as Charter added households and benefited from annual and promotional rate adjustments. Commercial revenue jumped 12%.

In all, Charter reported a loss of $188 million, or $1.68 a share, wider than its year-earlier loss of $81 million, or 73 cents a share. Revenue rose to $2.53 billion from $2.36 billion.

Analysts anticipated an adjusted loss of $1.09 a share and $2.54 billion in sales, according to Thomson Reuters.

Shares in the company, up 13% over the past year, were inactive premarket.

Write to Lisa Beilfuss at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 28, 2016 09:40 ET (13:40 GMT)

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