Windstream Reports Q3 Loss on Same Day as EarthLink Buy

Overshadowed by the news that it is buying EarthLink for $1.1 billion, Windstream on Monday reported a $66.2 million loss, and $1.34 billion in revenue for the third quarter of 2016.

That compares to a $7.2 million loss, and $1.5 billion in revenue for the same quarter in 2015.

“Windstream continues to advance our strategy to maximize shareholder value,” said Tony Thomas, Windstream’s president and CEO. “During the third quarter, we further expanded enterprise contribution margin and grew consumer service revenue sequentially. We continued to make prudent capital investments to better leverage our extensive network to serve customers and provide incremental returns to shareholders. Additionally, we further improved our debt maturity profile and reduced future cash interest.”

Service revenue was $1.32 billion in the third quarter, down from $1.45 billion for the year-ago quarter. Consumer and small business ILEC service revenues were $395 million, a 1 percent decrease from the year-ago quarter.{ad}

Wholesale service revenue was $155 million, an 8 percent drop year over year. Wholesale legacy declines were partially offset by growth products such as Ethernet, WAVE sales and sales to new customer verticals.{ad}

Enterprise service revenue was $495 million, up $4 million from the second quarter.

Small business CLEC service revenue was $119 million, down from $139 million for the year-ago quarter. Through targeted price increases and incremental sales of additional services, average revenue per user (ARPU) increased 5 percent year over year.

Windstream expects total service revenue of between $5.28 billion and $5.43 billion for the year. Adjusted capital expenditures are expected to be between $800 million and $850 million.