Consolidated Communications (Nasdaq: CNSL) on Wednesday reported its second-quarter revenue was slightly higher than it posted for the same year-ago period.
For Q2, revenues were $93 million, up 0.4 percent, over $93.6 million in the same period in 2011.
Like other traditional wireline telcos, Consolidated Communications' increases in network access, subsidies, data and internet and other operations were partially offset by declines in local and long distance service subscribers and revenues.
For the quarter, Consolidated lost 7,335 ILEC access lines, leaving 225,025 lines at the period ending on June 30. However, like in Q1 2012, the company added 12,969 new CLEC access line equivalents, ending the period with 94,715 lines.
Outside of voice services, Consolidated continued to see gains in both broadband and IPTV. In Q2, it signed up an additional 5,275 broadband subscribers, ending the period with 113, 581 subscribers, while adding 4,616 IPTV subscribers.
"Our broadband growth was solid in what is historically a very slow quarter, and we had another strong access line performance," President and CEO Bob Currey said in the earnings release. "During the quarter, we continued to expand our network capitalizing on the increasing demand in commercial and wholesale opportunities."
Consolidated Communications income from operations was $14.1 million, down from $14.7 million in the same quarter last year, due to costs related to the completion of its acquisition of SureWest on July 2 and higher video programming costs.
With the SureWest acquisition complete, Consolidated said it will begin reporting combined financial results of the combined company beginning in Q3 this year. SureWest itself reported revenues of $64.8 million, adjusted EBITDA of $19.8 million and capital expenditures of $21.5 million.
Fiber-based broadband and video were major growth highlights in the Sacramento, Calif.-based telco's earnings report. During Q2, it brought fiber to an additional 3,600 marketable homes and passed an additional 2,400 homes with video service in its ILEC footprint.
SureWest reported that it added 2,900 new video and 2,000 broadband data Revenue Generating Units (RGUs).
Currey said that the integration efforts to bring SureWest into its fold are "off to a fast start and we are well on our way to meeting our synergy projections."
Shares of Consolidated Communications were trading at $16.14, up $0.52, or 3.3 percent, in early Thursday afternoon trading on the Nasdaq.
For more:
- see the earnings release
Special Report: Wireline in the second quarter of 2012
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