Rogers capped off 2016 with a total of 10,274,000 wireless subscribers across all its brands.
Leading into 2017, with its new CEO Joe Natale about to take the helm, Rogers announced its Q1 2017 results and continued collecting wireless subscribers and increased revenues.
Rogers reported an increased wireless revenue of $1.968 billion CAD for the three months ended March 31st, up four percent over the same period last year. Total subscribers are now 10,292,000 (8,617,000 postpaid and 1,675,000 prepaid), which is up 18,000 from Q4 2016. Blended ARPU (average revenue per user, both prepaid and postpaid) is $59.96, representing an increase of $1.42 from Q1 2017 and was mainly from growing adoption of Rogers ‘Share Everything’ plans.
Postpaid ARPA (average revenue per account) is $119.61 and Rogers noted that postpaid churn declined seven basis points from Q1 2016 to 1.10 percent, which reportedly is the “the lowest first quarter postpaid churn rate since 2010.”
“We delivered on all wireless fundamentals, including a substantial reduction in postpaid churn, as we pursue an ever-improving experience for our customers.”
“We are pleased to report strong growth in revenue, adjusted operating profit, and free cash flow this quarter, underpinned by impressive subscriber metrics,” said Alan Horn, interim president and CEO.
“We delivered on all wireless fundamentals, including a substantial reduction in postpaid churn, as we pursue an ever-improving experience for our customers. Our results are an excellent start to 2017. We are of course excited to welcome Joe Natale as President and CEO starting tomorrow and look forward to Joe’s leadership in continuing to build on this momentum.”
As at March 31st, 2017, Rogers’ LTE network now reaches approximately 95 percent of Canada’s population and its 700 MHz LTE network reaches 91 percent of Canada’s population.
Total revenue for Rogers in Q1 2017 rose three percent to $3.338 billion, which its media assets, including the Toronto Blue Jays, attributing $474 million to the total.
Last week, Rogers announced that Joe Natale will join the company as its president and CEO effective April 19th. Rogers noted it reached “a confidential agreement was reached with Telus Corporation to secure his early arrival.”
While the details are scarce as to how Natale will run Rogers, analysts are suggesting he will follow a similar path to how former CEO Guy Lawrence operated by focusing in on customer service, improving wireless subscriber churn and investing in growth opportunities.
Source: Rogers
