Cincinnati Bell Reports Second Quarter 2013 Results

Cincinnati Bell Reports Second Quarter 2013 Results

• Strong second quarter Adjusted EBITDA of $104 million

• Fioptics revenue totaled $24 million, an increase of 50 percent from 2012

• Fioptics entertainment subscribers up 36 percent over prior year

CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cincinnati Bell Inc. (NYS: CBB) today announced second quarter results for 2013. The company's Fioptics suite of products added a record high 5,600 new entertainment subscribers and 6,100 high-speed internet subscribers in the quarter and generated revenue of $24 million, up 50 percent compared to the prior year. Cincinnati Bell passed an additional 33,000 addresses with Fioptics during the first half of 2013, and was able to maintain a 28 percent customer penetration rate. The company is now able to provide Fioptics service to approximately 30 percent of Greater Cincinnati.

Total revenue for the second quarter of 2013 was $312 million, down $3 million from the prior year after exclusion of CyrusOne, the company's former data center segment. Operating income totaled $47 million, and Adjusted EBITDA¹ of $104 million was down $7 million from the prior year after excluding the results of the former data center segment, as declines from postpaid wireless subscriber losses and access line losses offset the growth from Fioptics. Net income for the quarter was $1 million, and net income excluding special items² was $10 million.

The company successfully completed the initial public offering ("IPO") of CyrusOne on January 24, 2013 and its consolidated results for the first half of 2013 include the results of that business to this date. On this basis, revenue for the first half of 2013 was $638 million, operating income was $66 million and Adjusted EBITDA totaled $222 million. Excluding the data center segment results, Cincinnati Bell generated revenue of $622 million, down $4 million from $626 million in 2012. Adjusted EBITDA excluding the data center business was $214 million, and includes a gain of $7 million associated with mark-to-market adjustments on compensation plans indexed to the company's stock price.

"Our second quarter results closed the first half of 2013 on a very strong note, highlighted by the record numbers put up by our Fioptics product team," said Ted Torbeck, president and chief executive officer. "We continue to have confidence that our investments in fiber, combined with the eventual monetization of CyrusOne, will create a fiber-based growth company with significant, sustainable free cash flows."

Quarterly Highlights

• Fioptics revenue totaled $24 million in the quarter, a 50 percent increase compared to the second quarter of 2012. Year to date, the company has passed 33,000 additional homes and businesses with its Fioptics network, ending the quarter with a total of 238,000 units passed. The company ended the quarter with 67,000 Fioptics high-speed internet subscribers, up 42 percent compared to the end of the second quarter of 2012. Fioptics entertainment subscribers were up 36 percent compared to the second quarter of 2012 and totaled 63,000 at June 30, 2013.

• Total high-speed internet subscribers, which include both Fioptics and DSL, increased to 262,000 at the end of the quarter, up from 258,000 at the end of the second quarter in 2012. Net subscriber activations for the quarter were 2,000 as construction of the Fioptics network continues to mitigate the loss of legacy DSL customers and improve the overall quality and speed of our entire network.

• The company effectively owns a 69 percent equity method investment in CyrusOne. For the second quarter of 2013, CyrusOne reported 18 percent year-over-year revenue growth to $64 million, and an 8 percent year-over-year Adjusted EBITDA increase to $31 million. Revenue for the first half of 2013 was $124 million and Adjusted EBITDA was $62 million.

Financial and Operations Review

"The impressive growth trends achieved to date from our Fioptics suite of services continue to meet our expectations and speak to the superior quality of the product," said Kurt Freyberger, chief financial officer. "Fioptics financial results have contributed to a strong performance by the company for the first half of 2013, providing momentum into the second half of the year."

Wireline Segment

Wireline revenue was $182 million for the quarter compared to $184 million in the second quarter of 2012, as the growth from Fioptics and fiber-based business solutions continues to partially mitigate the impact of access line losses. For the quarter, operating income was $49 million, down from $55 million in the same period of 2012, and Adjusted EBITDA declined by $4 million year-over-year to $84 million, primarily driven by the continued loss of higher margin access lines. As a result, Adjusted EBITDA margin³ in the quarter was 46 percent compared to 48 percent in the second quarter of 2012.

The company's Fioptics product suite now passes 238,000 residential and business addresses. The segment ended the quarter with 67,000 Fioptics high-speed internet subscribers and 63,000 entertainment subscribers, up 42 percent and 36 percent, respectively, compared to the second quarter in 2012. Access line loss of 8.1 percent in the second quarter of 2013 was comparable to 8.0 percent in the prior year.

Wireless Segment

Wireless revenue was $52 million for the quarter, a decrease of 16 percent from the second quarter of 2012. The segment's Adjusted EBITDA of $19 million in the quarter resulted in an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 37 percent, down from 39 percent in the second quarter of 2012 and 38 percent in the first quarter of 2013. The loss of postpaid subscribers continues to have a negative impact on Wireless revenue and Adjusted EBITDA. Wireless operating income was $11 million in the second quarter compared to $16 million in the prior year.

At June 30, 2013, total wireless subscribers were 370,000 compared to 430,000 at the end of the second quarter in 2012.

IT Services and Hardware Segment

Revenue was $86 million for the quarter compared to $77 million in the second quarter of 2012. Hardware sales were up 13 percent and managed and professional services revenue was up 9 percent compared to a year ago. For the quarter, Adjusted EBITDA of $4 million and Adjusted EBITDA margin of 4 percent were comparable to the second quarter in 2012.

Investment in CyrusOne

Subsequent to January 24, 2013, the closing date of CyrusOne's IPO, the company no longer consolidates the results of its data center business, but rather accounts for it as an equity method investment. The company continues to effectively own 69 percent of CyrusOne and received the initial quarterly cash dividend of $7 million in April 2013, while the second quarterly dividend of $7 million was received in July 2013. As of June 30, 2013, the company's investment in CyrusOne was valued at approximately $922 million.

CyrusOne reported revenue of $64 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $31 million for the second quarter of 2013, and had 970,000 square feet of total data center colocation space which was 81 percent utilized at June 30, 2013. CyrusOne reaffirmed its full year 2013 revenue guidance range of $260 million to $270 million and its Adjusted EBITDA guidance range of $133 million to $137 million.

2013 Outlook

Cincinnati Bell reaffirms its financial guidance for 2013, which excludes the results of its former data center segment:

*Plus or minus 2 percent

Conference Call/Webcast

Cincinnati Bell will host a conference call on August 8 at 10:00 a.m. (ET) to discuss its results for the second quarter of 2013. A live webcast of the call will be available via the Investor Relations section of www.cincinnatibell.com. The conference call dial-in number is (866) 863-7412. Callers located outside of the U.S. and Canada may dial (816) 581-1570. A taped replay of the conference call will be available one hour after the conclusion of the call until 10:00 a.m. on Thursday August 22, 2013. For U.S. callers, the replay will be available at (888) 203-1112. For callers outside of the U.S. and Canada, the replay will be available at (719) 457-0820. The replay reference number is 1910055. An archived version of the webcast will also be available in the Investor Relations section of www.cincinnatibell.com.

Safe Harbor Note

This release and the documents incorporated by reference herein contain forward-looking statements regarding future events and our future results that are subject to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about the industries in which we operate and the beliefs and assumptions of our management. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "predicts," "projects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "continues," "endeavors," "strives," "may," variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to projections of our future financial performance, our anticipated growth and trends in our businesses, and other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned these forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in this release and those discussed in other documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). More information on potential risks and uncertainties is available in our recent filings with the SEC, including Cincinnati Bell's Form 10-K report, Form 10-Q reports and Form 8-K reports. Actual results may differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements for any reason.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release contains information about adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Adjusted EBITDA), Adjusted EBITDA margin, net debt, net income excluding special items, and free cash flow. These are non-GAAP financial measures used by Cincinnati Bell management when evaluating results of operations and cash flow. Management believes these measures also provide users of the financial statements with additional and useful comparisons of current results of operations and cash flows with past and future periods. Non-GAAP financial measures should not be construed as being more important than comparable GAAP measures. Detailed reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to comparable GAAP financial measures have been included in the tables distributed with this release and are available in the Investor Relations section of www.cincinnatibell.com.

¹Adjusted EBITDA provides a useful measure of operational performance. The company defines Adjusted EBITDA as GAAP operating income plus depreciation, amortization, transaction-related compensation, restructuring charges, loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets, transaction costs, curtailment gain, asset impairments, components of pension and other retirement plan costs (including interest costs, asset returns, and amortization of actuarial gains and losses), and other special items. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to comparable GAAP measures of profitability and may not be comparable with the measure as defined by other companies.

CyrusOne defines Adjusted EBITDA as net (loss) income as defined by U.S. GAAP before noncontrolling interests plus interest expense, income tax (benefit) expense, depreciation and amortization, non-cash compensation, transaction costs and transaction-related compensation, including acquisition pursuit costs, loss on sale of receivables to affiliate, restructuring costs, loss on extinguishment of debt, asset impairments and excluding (gain) loss on sale of real estate improvements. Other companies may not calculate Adjusted EBITDA in the same manner as CyrusOne. Accordingly, CyrusOne's Adjusted EBITDA as presented may not be comparable to others. Detailed reconciliations of CyrusOne's Adjusted EBITDA to the comparable GAAP financial measure are available in the Investor Relations section of www.cyrusone.com.

²Net income excluding special items in total and per share provides a useful measure of operating performance. Net income excluding special items should not be considered as an alternative to comparable GAAP measures of profitability and may not be comparable with net income excluding special items as defined by other companies.

³Adjusted EBITDA margin provides a useful measure of operational performance. The company defines Adjusted EBITDA margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue. Adjusted EBITDA margin should not be considered as an alternative to comparable GAAP measures of profitability and may not be comparable with the measure as defined by other companies.

Free cash flow provides a useful measure of operational performance, liquidity and financial health. The company defines free cash flow as cash provided by (used in) operating, financing and investing activities, adjusted for the issuance and repayment of debt, debt issuance costs, the repurchase of common stock, and the proceeds from the sale or the use of funds from the purchase of business operations, including transaction costs. Free cash flow should not be considered as an alternative to net income (loss), operating income (loss), cash flow from operating activities, or the change in cash on the balance sheet and may not be comparable with free cash flow as defined by other companies. Although the company feels that there is no comparable GAAP measure for free cash flow, the attached financial information reconciles free cash flow to the net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents.

Net debt provides a useful measure of liquidity and financial health. The company defines net debt as the sum of the face amount of short-term and long-term debt and unamortized premium and/or discount, offset by cash and cash equivalents. Net debt should not be considered as an alternative to comparable GAAP measures of liquidity and may not be comparable with the measure as defined by other companies.

About Cincinnati Bell Inc.

With headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Bell (NYS: CBB) provides integrated communications solutions - including local and long distance voice, data, high-speed internet, entertainment and wireless services - that keep residential and business customers in Greater Cincinnati and Dayton connected with each other and with the world. In addition, enterprise customers across the United States rely on Cincinnati Bell for efficient, scalable office communications systems and end-to-end IT solutions. Cincinnati Bell also is the majority owner of CyrusOne (NAS: CONE) , which provides best-in-class data center colocation services to enterprise customers through its facilities with fully redundant power and cooling solutions that are currently located in the Midwest, Texas, Arizona, London and Singapore. For more information, please visit www.cincinnatibell.com.