Rogers released their 2019 Q1 earnings today, which saw wireless results lower than analyst expectations.
Overall, Rogers saw $3.58 billion in revenue for the quarter, a 1% decrease year-over-year. The company says the lower revenue was impacted by lower smartphone sales and a decline in its media division, which saw revenue drop 12% year-on-year.
The company’s wireless revenue came in at $2.18 billion and only 23,000 net postpaid subscribers were added, compared to 95,000 in the year-ago quarter, a 72% decline.
Despite the new wireless subscribers drop, Rogers’ monthly churn rate—the annual percentage rate at which customers are leaving the company—reached 0.99%, a company record, versus 1.08% from a year ago.
As for blended average monthly revenue per user, Rogers saw the average wireless customer bill increase to $54.13 from $53.68 compared to the year-ago quarter.
“In the first quarter, we delivered strong growth in service revenue and adjusted EBITDA in both Wireless and Cable. We achieved the best Wireless postpaid churn in our company’s history and continued to deliver on ARPU growth,” said Joe Natale, President and CEO, in a statement.
Speaking during the company’s conference call, Natale said the wireless market is now based on seasonality, “more than ever”, citing how Rogers has now “trained the market” to zero in on specific selling periods. January and February promotions were lacking after a heavy push during the holidays, explained Natale.
