UScellular reports second quarter 2021 results

Executing on strategic priorities;

guidance reaffirmed

News provided by

United States Cellular Corporation

Aug 05, 2021, 17:29 ET

CHICAGO, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

As previously announced, UScellular will hold a teleconference August 6, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. CDT. Listen to the call live via the Events & Presentations page of investors.uscellular.com.

United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM) reported total operating revenues of $1,014 million for the second quarter of 2021, versus $973 million for the same period one year ago. Service revenues totaled $774 million, versus $753 million for the same period a year ago. Net income attributable to UScellular shareholders and related diluted earnings per share were $35 million and $0.39, respectively, for the second quarter of 2021 compared to $68 million and $0.78, respectively, in the same period one year ago.

"UScellular continued strong growth in service revenue and made meaningful progress towards our strategic priorities," said Laurent Therivel, UScellular President and CEO. "Higher postpaid ARPU helped drive service revenue growth as customers chose higher-value plans.

"Our efforts to expand our prepaid business are starting to generate positive results, and our business-and-government initiatives are laying the foundation for future growth. With the competitive environment top of mind, we are continuing to execute our community-by-community strategy in order to deliver solutions that are right for our customers. 

"Our 5G and network modernization programs are on track. We continue to be very optimistic on the performance capabilities of mmWave spectrum. Additionally, the 5G fixed wireless access tests of market demand have seen early, encouraging results and will provide valuable learnings as we look to bring this high-speed product to market.

"I continue to be impressed with the hard work of our associates and their commitment to keeping our customers connected. I'd like to thank all of them for their contributions this quarter."

2021 Estimated Results

UScellular's current estimates of full-year 2021 results are shown below. Such estimates represent management's view as of August 5, 2021 and should not be assumed to be current as of any future date. UScellular undertakes no duty to update such estimates, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. There can be no assurance that final results will not differ materially from estimated results.


2021 Estimated Results


Previous

Current

(Dollars in millions)



Service revenues

$3,050-$3,150

Unchanged

Adjusted OIBDA1

$850-$950

Unchanged

Adjusted EBITDA1

$1,025-$1,125

Unchanged

Capital expenditures

$775-$875

Unchanged

The following table reconciles EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted OIBDA to the corresponding GAAP measures, Net income or Income before income taxes. In providing 2021 estimated results, UScellular has not completed the below reconciliation to Net income because it does not provide guidance for income taxes. Although potentially significant, UScellular believes that the impact of income taxes cannot be reasonably predicted; therefore, UScellular is unable to provide such guidance.




Actual Results


2021 Estimated
Results


Six Months Ended

June 30, 2021


Year Ended
December 31, 2020

(Dollars in millions)






Net income (GAAP)

N/A



$

97



$

233


Add back:






Income tax expense

N/A



17



17


Income before income taxes (GAAP)

$125-$225



$

114



$

250


Add back:






Interest expense

180



97



112


Depreciation, amortization and accretion expense

700



350



683


EBITDA (Non-GAAP)1

$1,005-$1,105



$

561



$

1,045


Add back or deduct:






(Gain) loss on asset disposals, net

20



7



25


(Gain) loss on sale of business and other exit costs, net

—



(1)



—


(Gain) loss on license sales and exchanges, net

—



—



(5)


(Gain) loss on investments

—



—



(2)


Adjusted EBITDA (Non-GAAP)1

$1,025-$1,125



$

567



$

1,063


Deduct:






Equity in earnings of unconsolidated entities

170



88



179


Interest and dividend income

5



3



8


Adjusted OIBDA (Non-GAAP)1

$850-$950



$

476



$

876




1

EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted OIBDA are defined as net income adjusted for the items set forth in the reconciliation above. EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted OIBDA are not measures of financial performance under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States (GAAP) and should not be considered as alternatives to Net income or Cash flows from operating activities, as indicators of cash flows or as measures of liquidity. UScellular does not intend to imply that any such items set forth in the reconciliation above are non-recurring, infrequent or unusual; such items may occur in the future. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted OIBDA as measurements of profitability, and therefore reconciliations to Net income are deemed appropriate. Management believes Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted OIBDA are useful measures of UScellular's operating results before significant recurring non-cash charges, gains and losses, and other items as presented above as they provide additional relevant and useful information to investors and other users of UScellular's financial data in evaluating the effectiveness of its operations and underlying business trends in a manner that is consistent with management's evaluation of business performance. Adjusted EBITDA shows adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and accretion, and gains and losses, while Adjusted OIBDA reduces this measure further to exclude Equity in earnings of unconsolidated entities and Interest and dividend income in order to more effectively show the performance of operating activities excluding investment activities. The table above reconciles EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted OIBDA to the corresponding GAAP measure, Net income or Income before income taxes. Additional information and reconciliations related to Non-GAAP financial measures for June 30, 2021, can be found on UScellular's website at investors.uscellular.com.

Conference Call Information
UScellular will hold a conference call on August 6, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. Central Time.

Before the call, certain financial and statistical information to be discussed during the call will be posted to investors.uscellular.com. The call will be archived on the Events & Presentations page of investors.uscellular.com.

About UScellular
United States Cellular Corporation provides a comprehensive range of wireless products and services, excellent customer support, and a high-quality network to customers with 5.0 million connections in 21 states. The Chicago-based company employed approximately 5,000 associates as of June 30, 2021. At the end of the second quarter of 2021, Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. owned 82 percent of UScellular. For more information about UScellular, visit uscellular.com.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: All information set forth in this news release, except historical and factual information, represents forward-looking statements. This includes all statements about the company's plans, beliefs, estimates, and expectations. These statements are based on current estimates, projections, and assumptions, which involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that may affect these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: intense competition; the ability to obtain or maintain roaming arrangements with other carriers on acceptable terms; the ability to obtain access to adequate radio spectrum to meet current or anticipated future needs, including participation in FCC auctions; the ability to attract people of outstanding talent throughout all levels of the organization; UScellular's smaller scale relative to larger competitors; changes in demand, consumer preferences and perceptions, price competition, or churn rates; advances in technology; impacts of costs, integration problems or other factors associated with acquisitions, divestitures or exchanges of properties or wireless spectrum licenses and/or expansion of UScellular's businesses; the ability of the company to successfully construct and manage its networks; difficulties involving third parties; uncertainties in UScellular's future cash flows and liquidity and access to the capital markets; the ability to make payments on UScellular indebtedness or comply with the terms of debt covenants; conditions in the U.S. telecommunications industry; the value of assets and investments; the state and federal regulatory environment; pending and future litigation; potential conflicts of interests between TDS and UScellular; cyber-attacks or other breaches of network or information technology security; disruption in credit or other financial markets; deterioration of U.S. or global economic conditions; the impact, duration and severity of public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Investors are encouraged to consider these and other risks and uncertainties that are more fully described under "Risk Factors" in the most recent filing of UScellular's Form 10-K, as updated by any UScellular Form 10-Q filed subsequent to such Form 10-K.

For more information about UScellular, visit: www.uscellular.com


 

United States Cellular Corporation

Summary Operating Data (Unaudited)

As of or for the Quarter Ended

6/30/2021


3/31/2021


12/31/2020


9/30/2020


6/30/2020

Retail Connections










Postpaid










Total at end of period

4,399,000



4,406,000



4,412,000



4,401,000



4,372,000


Gross additions

141,000



143,000



171,000



168,000



129,000


Feature phones

3,000



3,000



2,000



4,000



3,000


Smartphones

98,000



101,000



117,000



98,000



82,000


Connected devices

40,000



39,000



52,000



66,000



44,000


Net additions (losses)

(6,000)



(6,000)



11,000



28,000



12,000


Feature phones

(7,000)



(9,000)



(9,000)



(8,000)



(8,000)


Smartphones

6,000



6,000



12,000



8,000



11,000


Connected devices

(5,000)



(3,000)



8,000



28,000



9,000


ARPU1

$

47.74



$

47.65



$

47.51



$

47.10



$

46.24


ARPA2

$

125.25



$

125.25



$

124.87



$

123.27



$

120.70


Churn rate3

1.11

%


1.12

%


1.21

%


1.06

%


0.89

%

Handsets

0.88

%


0.92

%


1.01

%


0.88

%


0.71

%

Connected devices

2.69

%


2.53

%


2.64

%


2.35

%


2.24

%

Prepaid










Total at end of period

507,000



496,000



499,000



506,000



496,000


Gross additions

65,000



62,000



56,000



65,000



62,000


Net additions (losses)

10,000



(3,000)



(8,000)



11,000



2,000


ARPU1

$

35.64



$

35.25



$

35.15



$

35.45



$

34.89


Churn rate3

3.66

%


4.37

%


4.24

%


3.59

%


4.05

%

Total connections at end of period4

4,967,000



4,961,000



4,968,000



4,962,000



4,919,000


Market penetration at end of period










Consolidated operating population

31,493,000



31,493,000



31,314,000



31,314,000



31,292,000


Consolidated operating penetration5

16

%


16

%


16

%


16

%


16

%

Capital expenditures (millions)

$

148



$

125



$

320



$

216



$

168


Total cell sites in service

6,819



6,802



6,797



6,758



6,673


Owned towers

4,278



4,270



4,271



4,246



4,208




1 

Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) - metric is calculated by dividing a revenue base by an average number of connections and by the number of months in the period. These revenue bases and connection populations are shown below:


•     Postpaid ARPU consists of total postpaid service revenues and postpaid connections.


•     Prepaid ARPU consists of total prepaid service revenues and prepaid connections.

2

Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA) - metric is calculated by dividing total postpaid service revenues by the average number of postpaid accounts and by the number of months in the period.

3

Churn rate represents the percentage of the connections that disconnect service each month. These rates represent the average monthly churn rate for each respective period.

4

Includes reseller and other connections.

5 

Market penetration is calculated by dividing the number of wireless connections at the end of the period by the total estimated population of consolidated operating markets.

United States Cellular Corporation

Consolidated Statement of Operations Highlights

(Unaudited)






Three Months Ended

June 30,


Six Months Ended

June 30,


2021


2020


2021

vs. 2020


2021


2020


2021

vs. 2020

(Dollars and shares in millions, except per share amounts)












Operating revenues












Service

$

774



$

753



3

%


$

1,545



$

1,515



2

%

Equipment sales

240



220



9

%


492



422



17

%

Total operating revenues

1,014



973



4

%


2,037



1,937



5

%













Operating expenses












System operations (excluding Depreciation, amortization and accretion reported below)

204



197



4

%


389



377



3

%

Cost of equipment sold

258



218



19

%


533



435



23

%

Selling, general and administrative

334



323



3

%


639



659



(3)

%

Depreciation, amortization and accretion

180



178



1

%


350



354



(2)

%

(Gain) loss on asset disposals, net

2



4



(50)

%


7



8



(9)

%

(Gain) loss on sale of business and other exit costs, net

—



—



N/M


(1)



—



N/M

Total operating expenses

978



920



6

%


1,917



1,833



5

%













Operating income

36



53



(32)

%


120



104



16

%













Investment and other income (expense)












Equity in earnings of unconsolidated entities

47



44



7

%


88



89



–

Interest and dividend income

2



1



54

%


3



5



(30)

%

Interest expense

(60)



(25)



N/M


(97)



(49)



N/M

Total investment and other income (expense)

(11)



20



N/M


(6)



45



N/M













Income before income taxes

25



73



(66)

%


114



149



(24)

%

Income tax expense (benefit)

(10)



4



N/M


17



8



N/M

Net income

35



69



(49)

%


97



141



(31)

%

Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests, net of tax

—



1



(2)

%


2



2



16

%

Net income attributable to UScellular shareholders

$

35



$

68



(49)

%


$

95



$

139



(32)

%













Basic weighted average shares outstanding

87



86



1

%


87



86



–

Basic earnings per share attributable to UScellular shareholders

$

0.40



$

0.79



(50)

%


$

1.10



$

1.62



(32)

%













Diluted weighted average shares outstanding

88



87



1

%


88



87



–

Diluted earnings per share attributable to UScellular shareholders

$

0.39



$

0.78



(50)

%


$

1.08



$

1.59



(32)

%


N/M - Percentage change not meaningful


United States Cellular Corporation

Consolidated Balance Sheet Highlights

(Unaudited)


ASSETS






June 30, 2021


December 31, 2020

(Dollars in millions)




Current assets




Cash and cash equivalents

$

267



$

1,271


Short-term investments

—



3


Accounts receivable, net

974



998


Inventory, net

183



146


Prepaid expenses

55



51


Income taxes receivable

126



125


Other current assets

40



29


Total current assets

1,645



2,623






Assets held for sale

3



2






Licenses

3,917



2,629






Investments in unconsolidated entities

445



435






Property, plant and equipment, net

2,386



2,466






Operating lease right-of-use assets

950



924






Other assets and deferred charges

574



602






Total assets

$

9,920



$

9,681


United States Cellular Corporation

Consolidated Balance Sheet Highlights

(Unaudited)


LIABILITIES AND EQUITY






June 30, 2021


December 31, 2020

(Dollars in millions, except per share amounts)




Current liabilities




Current portion of long-term debt

$

3



$

2


Accounts payable

293



387


Customer deposits and deferred revenues

153



151


Accrued taxes

46



48


Accrued compensation

53



82


Short-term operating lease liabilities

125



116


Other current liabilities

78



85


Total current liabilities

751



871






Liabilities held for sale

—



1






Deferred liabilities and credits




Deferred income tax liability, net

668



633


Long-term operating lease liabilities

890



875


Other deferred liabilities and credits

372



376






Long-term debt, net

2,710



2,489






Noncontrolling interests with redemption features

10



10






Equity




UScellular shareholders' equity




Series A Common and Common Shares, par value $1.00 per share

88



88


Additional paid-in capital

1,663



1,651


Treasury shares

(42)



(67)


Retained earnings

2,794



2,739


Total UScellular shareholders' equity

4,503



4,411






Noncontrolling interests

16



15






Total equity

4,519



4,426






Total liabilities and equity

$

9,920



$

9,681


SOURCE United States Cellular Corporation