Rogers Communications Inc. had a 9% drop in its first-quarter profit, but posted revenue growth in all of its main divisions and sold a record number of smartphones to new customers in the highly competitive wireless market.
Rogers sold 190,000 smartphones to new customers in the quarter and said Tuesday that 45% of its customers on contracts now have devices that allow them to surf the web, watch video and check e-mail. That’s up from 33% in the same quarter in 2010.
“So in an intensely competitive environment, it was a solid quarter to start 2011,” chief executive Nadir Mohamed told a conference call. “We’re seeing continued, if not accelerating success in the high-value smartphone category.”
Rogers said its media division posted revenue growth of 17% in the quarter with growth at Rogers’ Sportsnet channel, solid overall broadcast ratings, higher subscriber revenues and an improving advertising market.
Net income for the company was $335 million or 60 cents per share, down from $368 million or 62 cents a share in the same quarter last year.
Net income was reduced by several items, the largest being $99 million item related to repayment of long-term debt, partially offset by the positive impact of a $30-million tax adjustment related to the other items.
The results came on the same day the company announced it will roll out an even faster wireless network this year to serve its mobile phone and mobile laptop users, effectively beating Telus in the race to have the fastest network.
“Our customers will be the amongst the first in the world to experience Long-Term Evolution or LTE, which is a next-generation network that would transform our customers’ mobile experience,” said Mohamed.
Telus is planning to roll out its own LTE network in 2012. Bell has announced it’s also testing the technology.
Rogers will roll out the network in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver with speeds that will be three to four times faster than the telecom giant’s existing advanced network, Mohamed told shareholders at a meeting in Toronto.
Mohamed said the network will significantly increase upload and download speeds, improve multi-player gaming and allow workers to be truly mobile. It also has the ability to accommodate more network users without affecting speed, he added.
LTE wireless networks, which are starting to be rolled out globally, offer the equivalent of a home or office internet connection.
For business people, it means a “workforce as efficient and secure” as their offices, Mohamed said.
