Paul Allen's other cable company not only lost money in the fourth quarter,
but it will also lose its chief financial officer soon.
RCN Corp. posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $158.1 million. That compares
with a $210 million net profit during the same period of 2001, although much of
that income came from one-time revenue and money saved from discontinued
operations.
For the year, the net loss widened to $1.57 billion, compared with $836.5
million in 2001.
On a brighter note, RCN did increase revenues in the quarter, bringing in
$117.2 million versus $109.7 million in the prior fourth quarter. For the year,
revenue rose 13 percent from $405.6 million in 2001 to $457.4 million in
2002.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for
the quarter came in at a loss of $15.1 million, a considerable improvement
compared with negative $38.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2001.
Similarly, EBITDA for the full year totaled negative $83.2 million versus
negative $247.5 million posted in 2001.
As of Dec. 31, RCN claimed 469,490 customers and a little more than 1 million
connections, including 182,654 long-distance links. Excluding long distance, RCN
increased its network connections by 112,334 for the year.
About 143,660 of RCN's customers take more than one service under the MSO's
"Resilink" bundling plan. Resilink customers on average take 3.3 services and
generate about $128 in monthly revenue.
The company will also be losing its CFO, Jeff White, sometime during the
second quarter. White is resigning for personal reasons, according to a company
statement.
