Revenue was up, but income was down in the third quarter as SureWest Communications (Nasdaq: SURW) today reported revenue of $63 million in the quarter, up from $61.1 million a year ago. Net income for the quarter was $643,000, down from $1.4 million in the same period last year. Basic and diluted earnings per share was 5 cents, down from 10 cents in the third quarter 2010.
The telco continued its accretive trend for its IPTV business, reporting it had added 800 net customers from the previous quarter to bring its total subscriber numbers to 64,900. A year ago, SureWest reported 61,200 subscribers in the third quarter. SureWest has shown some erosion in penetration for its IPTV service, standing at 22.5 percent. A year ago, the company reported penetration of 22.8 percent. In 2008, it had a pretty remarkable 25 percent penetration.
SureWest goes head-to-head in most of its service area with the nation's largest cable operator, Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA).
Steve Oldham, SureWest's president and chief executive officer, highlighted the company's success in rolling out digital TV in the Sacramento area and said a new ad campaign had driven increased awareness and uptake. He said the campaign would be expanded to its Kansas City market in 2012.
"We continuously monitor the reaction to our marketing efforts from both our customers and competitors and will adjust tactics as necessary in order to gain market share," he said.
For more:
- see this release
Special Coverage: IPTV in the third quarter of 2011
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