Charter Communications reported Q2 revenue of $1.239 billion, an increase of $71 million over the same period in 2003. Operating costs and expenses were $759 million, an increase of $64 million compared to the year ago period. The rise in second quarter 2004 operating costs and expenses was primarily a result of a 10% increase in programming costs, a 9% increase in service costs and a 29% increase in marketing costs. Second quarter 2004 income from operations totaled $15 million. The net loss was $416 million, or $1.39 per common share. There was a negative cash flow of $60 million.
Some operating statistics for the quarter:
- Charter ended the second quarter with 10,526,000 revenue generating units (RGUs), reflecting a net decrease of 2,700 RGUs from Q1 2004. The decrease in RGUs was driven by a net loss of 58,800 analog video customers and 7,200 digital video customers, partially offset by the gain of 58,400 residential HSD and growth in telephone customers during the quarter.
- Analog video customers numbered 6,133,200
- Digital video customers numbered 2,650,200
- Cable modem customers numbered 1,711,400. The company has migrated substantially all of its cable modem customers to a new pricing structure, resulting in average monthly revenue (ARPU) per customer of $35.87, a 4% increase over the first quarter of 2004.
- Telephony customers numbered 31,200 telephony customers as of June 30, 2004. The company as nearly tripled the number of telephony homes passed to 327,600 over the past quarter.
