WALL, N.J.—U.S. and Caribbean operator Centennial Communications Corp.’s earnings were down sharply, coming in at a loss of $2.2 million compared with a gain of $14.6 million in the same period last year.
The company’s operating income and consolidated revenue were both up slightly from the same period last year, but the company saw a large increase in interest expense.
Centennial’s U.S. operations performed well, with a 12-percent increase in revenue for a total of $120.4 million. The carrier’s retail revenue, excluding roaming, was up 17 percent compared with the year-ago period. Roaming revenue dropped 9 percent.
The company increased its average revenue per user by 2 percent to $67 for its fiscal first quarter. Data accounted for about $2.40 of ARPU, a sequential quarterly increase of nearly 30 percent.
Centennial’s U.S. churn was stable at 1.9 percent, and the company ended the quarter with 654,900 subscribers; 51,300 of those were wholesale customers. Overall, Centennial’s customer base increased by 62,300 subscribers compared with the year-ago quarter.
In the Caribbean, the picture wasn’t as rosy. Revenue was down 5 percent to $91.3 million, and ARPU fell by 11 percent to $41 “due to the continued impact of prepaid subscriber growth in the Dominican Republic and aggressive marketing of companion rate plans in Puerto Rico,” the company said. Centennial gained 8,100 postpaid subscribers more than it had in the same quarter of 2005, with postpaid churn of 2.6 percent. The carrier said it served 775,500 Caribbean subscribers.
Centennial recently won a pair of 20 megahertz licenses covering Grand Rapids and Lansing, Mich.; the licenses cost the company $9.1 million.
The carrier’s stock fell about 5 percent on the earnings news, from an opening price of $5.19 to around $4.93 in midday trading.
