Rogers Q3 earnings fall flat on weak subscriber additions

globalnews.ca:

Canada’s Rogers Communications on Thursday missed market expectations for third-quarter wireless subscriber additions, hit by cautious spending on its mobile plans and stiff competition in the telecom space.

The company added 101,000 monthly bill-paying wireless phone subscribers in the reported quarter, compared with estimates of 129,040, according to analysts polled by Visible Alpha.

Rogers also announced that it has entered into a C$7 billion equity financing deal with an investor and will use the proceeds to pay down debt.

Rogers has been seeing weaker spending on its mobile plans as consumers cut back on purchases amid high inflation levels, choosing instead to switch to cheaper plans.

Moreover, stiff competition from the other two major telecom firms in Canada, BCE and Telus have put pressure on Rogers’ subscriber additions and triggered a pricing shift in the market.

On an adjusted basis, it earned C$1.42 per share, compared with estimates of C$1.35 per share.

Amid slowing growth in the company’s other departments, the media segment remains a bright spot, growing 11% in the third quarter owing to higher sports related revenue, Rogers said.

Rogers, which owns the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball team, has been aggressively investing into Canadian sports over the past few years to capitalize on its strong viewership and loyal fanbase amid a broader decline in traditional media.

Media revenue of C$653 million came in above analysts’ estimates of C$626.7 million, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Total revenue for the July-to-September quarter was C$5.13 billion, below estimates of C$5.17 billion.

The company bought Bell’s stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment for C$4.7 billion last month, to become the majority