Regional wireless operator Centennial Communications Corp. said it added 8,500 domestic wireless customers during its fourth fiscal quarter ended May 31, which was a 15-percent drop from the 10,100 subscribers the carrier added during the fourth quarter of 2004. Centennial noted that full-year domestic net additions increased slightly from 22,100 customers during fiscal 2004 to 23,000 net customer additions this year, and it ended fiscal 2005 with 586,000 total domestic customers.
The fourth-quarter customer growth shortfall was attributed to a 5.5-percent drop in gross customer additions, which offset flat customer churn of 2.1 percent. The full-year customer growth was powered by a 5-percent increase in gross customer additions, which offset an increase in customer churn from 2.3 percent last year to 2.4 percent this year.
Similar to other regional wireless operators, Centennial posted an increase in average revenue per user from $49 during the fourth quarter of 2004 to $51 this year. Full-year ARPU jumped more than 8 percent from $48 in fiscal 2004 to $52 this year.
Centennial’s Caribbean wireless operations posted a more dramatic 40,500 net customer additions during the fourth quarter compared with 21,600 net customer additions during the fourth quarter of 2004. Full-year net customer additions increased from 97,600 customers during fiscal 2004 to 162,600 subscribers in fiscal 2005. Centennial ended the year with 658,800 total wireless customers in its Caribbean operations.
The carrier’s strong Caribbean growth was attributed to robust gross customer additions that offset sharp increases in quarterly churn from 3.5 percent in 2004 to 4.3 percent this year and in full-year churn from 3.2 percent in fiscal 2004 to 3.8 percent in 2005.
Centennial’s domestic wireless revenues increased 7.3 percent during the fourth quarter from $93.9 million in fiscal 2004 to $100.8 million in 2005. Full-year domestic revenues jumped 7.8 percent from $370.2 million in 2004 to $399 million this year.
The carrier’s total revenues, which include Centennial’s domestic wireless and Caribbean wireless and broadband operations, increased 13.2 percent during the fourth quarter from $207.7 million in 2004 to $229.7 million this year. Full-year revenues surged 13 percent from $780.8 million in fiscal 2004 to $882.4 million in 2005.
Despite the increased quarterly revenues, net income dropped from $3.2 million during the fourth quarter of 2004, a return of 2 cents per share, to a loss of $12.2 million in 2005, a loss of 11 cents per share. Centennial attributed the drop to a $36.3 million pre-tax charge for accelerated depreciation of its recently upgraded network in Puerto Rico.
Full-year net income shrugged off the quarterly drop by jumping from a loss of $22.8 million in fiscal 2004, a loss of 23 cents per share, to a return of $62.1 million in fiscal 2005, a return of 59 cents per share.
Centennial’s stock was trading down 31 cents per share early Thursday at $13.87 per share.
