UScellular reports third quarter 2021 results

Rhea-AI Summary

UScellular reported Q3 2021 total operating revenues of $1,016 million, slightly down from $1,027 million a year earlier. Service revenues rose to $788 million from $775 million. However, net income dropped significantly to $34 million ($0.38 per share) compared to $85 million ($0.97 per share) last year. The company has adjusted its full-year service revenue estimate to $3,075-$3,125 million and plans to continue optimizing promotions to drive subscriber growth. UScellular also repurchased 626,410 shares for $20 million.

Positive

• Service revenues increased to $788 million from $775 million year-over-year.
• Continuing momentum in business and government operations.
• Optimizing promotions to balance subscriber growth and profitability.
• 5G and network modernization programs are on track.
• Strong associate retention rates indicate high employee engagement.

Negative

• Total operating revenues declined from $1,027 million to $1,016 million.
• Net income decreased significantly from $85 million to $34 million year-over-year.

CHICAGO, Nov. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

As previously announced, UScellular will hold a teleconference November 4, 2021, at 4:00 p.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 $1,016 million for the third quarter of 2021, versus $1,027 million for the same period one year ago. Service revenues totaled $788 million, versus $775 million for the same period a year ago. Net income attributable to UScellular shareholders and related diluted earnings per share were $34 million and $0.38, respectively, for the third quarter of 2021 compared to $85 million and $0.97, respectively, in the same period one year ago.

"UScellular's third quarter results show continued growth in retail service revenue, driven in part by the positive impact of postpaid ARPU," said Laurent Therivel, UScellular President and CEO. "Prepaid results have also continued to improve as we have progressed through the year.

"Our business and government and tower operations are gaining momentum towards the growth we believe is achievable in their respective areas. Leveraging our regional strategy, we are optimizing promotions that balance subscriber growth and profitability as we head into the upcoming holiday season.

"Network performance is a hallmark of our value proposition. Our 5G and network modernization programs are on track, and we are optimistic on the use of millimeter wave spectrum for fixed wireless access and its potential to serve rural customers. We are continuing trials to validate network performance and customer experience as we look to bring this high-speed product to market.

"I am constantly impressed with our team at UScellular and the resilience that they are displaying through the pandemic. As workforce shortages become an increasing concern, UScellular's associate retention rates remain very high, evidence of our strong associate engagement."

2021 Estimated Results

UScellular's current estimates of full-year 2021 results are shown below. Such estimates represent management's view as of November 4, 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	$3,075-$3,125
Adjusted OIBDA1	$850-$950	Unchanged
Adjusted EBITDA1	$1,025-$1,125	Unchanged
Capital expenditures	$775-$875	$700-$800

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			Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021				Year Ended December 31, 2020
(Dollars in millions)
Net income (GAAP)	N/A			$	132			$	233
Add back:
Income tax expense	N/A			31				17
Income before income taxes (GAAP)	$155-$255			$	163			$	250
Add back:
Interest expense	180			144				112
Depreciation, amortization and accretion expense	675			510				683
EBITDA (Non-GAAP)1	$1,010-$1,110			$	817			$	1,045
Add back or deduct:
(Gain) loss on asset disposals, net	15			15				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			$	831			$	1,063
Deduct:
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated entities	170			137				179
Interest and dividend income	5			5				8
Adjusted OIBDA (Non-GAAP)1	$850-$950			$	689			$	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 September 30, 2021, can be found on UScellular's website at investors.uscellular.com.

Stock Repurchase
During the third quarter of 2021, UScellular repurchased 626,410 Common Shares for $20 million.

Conference Call Information
UScellular will hold a conference call on November 4, 2021 at 4:00 p.m. Central Time.

• Access the live call on the Events & Presentations page of investors.uscellular.com or at https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/3192472/D1EB8251CA63A8AE47DD208E6469C968
• Access the call by phone at (833) 968-2187, conference ID: 6753568.

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 4,900 associates as of September 30, 2021. At the end of the third 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	9/30/2021				6/30/2021				3/31/2021				12/31/2020				9/30/2020
Retail Connections
Postpaid
Total at end of period	4,391,000				4,399,000				4,406,000				4,412,000				4,401,000
Gross additions	145,000				141,000				143,000				171,000				168,000
Feature phones	2,000				3,000				3,000				2,000				4,000
Smartphones	103,000				98,000				101,000				117,000				98,000
Connected devices	40,000				40,000				39,000				52,000				66,000
Net additions (losses)	(8,000)				(6,000)				(6,000)				11,000				28,000
Feature phones	(7,000)				(7,000)				(9,000)				(9,000)				(8,000)
Smartphones	2,000				6,000				6,000				12,000				8,000
Connected devices	(3,000)				(5,000)				(3,000)				8,000				28,000
ARPU1,2	$	48.12			$	47.74			$	47.65			$	47.51			$	47.10
ARPA1,3	$	125.99			$	125.25			$	125.25			$	124.87			$	123.27
Churn rate4	1.15		%		1.11		%		1.12		%		1.21		%		1.06		%
Handsets	0.95		%		0.88		%		0.92		%		1.01		%		0.88		%
Connected devices	2.59		%		2.69		%		2.53		%		2.64		%		2.35		%
Prepaid
Total at end of period	518,000				507,000				496,000				499,000				506,000
Gross additions	74,000				65,000				62,000				56,000				65,000
Net additions (losses)	11,000				10,000				(3,000)				(8,000)				11,000
ARPU2	$	35.05			$	35.64			$	35.25			$	35.15			$	35.45
Churn rate4	4.09		%		3.66		%		4.37		%		4.24		%		3.59		%
Total connections at end of period5	4,972,000				4,967,000				4,961,000				4,968,000				4,962,000
Market penetration at end of period
Consolidated operating population	31,865,000				31,493,000				31,493,000				31,314,000				31,314,000
Consolidated operating penetration6	16		%		16		%		16		%		16		%		16		%
Capital expenditures (millions)	$	185			$	148			$	125			$	320			$	216
Total cell sites in service	6,857				6,819				6,802				6,797				6,758
Owned towers	4,274				4,278				4,270				4,271				4,246

1	Q3 2021 Postpaid ARPU and ARPA amounts exclude $9 million of postpaid revenue related to a third quarter out-of-period error.
2	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.
3	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.
4	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.
5	Includes reseller and other connections.
6	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 September 30,											Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2021				2020				2021 vs. 2020			2021				2020				2021 vs. 2020
(Dollars and shares in millions, except per share amounts)
Operating revenues
Service1	$	788			$	775			2	%		$	2,333			$	2,290			2	%
Equipment sales	228				252				(10)	%		720				674				7	%
Total operating revenues	1,016				1,027				(1)	%		3,053				2,964				3	%
Operating expenses
System operations (excluding Depreciation, amortization and accretion reported below)	205				203				1	%		594				580				2	%
Cost of equipment sold	252				257				(2)	%		786				692				14	%
Selling, general and administrative	346				335				3	%		984				994				(1)	%
Depreciation, amortization and accretion	160				161				–			510				516				(1)	%
(Gain) loss on asset disposals, net	8				6				29	%		15				14				7	%
(Gain) loss on sale of business and other exit costs, net	—				—				N/M			(1)				—				N/M
Total operating expenses	971				962				1	%		2,888				2,796				3	%
Operating income	45				65				(31)	%		165				168				(2)	%
Investment and other income (expense)
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated entities	48				48				–			137				137				–
Interest and dividend income	1				2				(23)	%		5				6				(28)	%
Gain (loss) on investments	—				3				N/M			—				3				N/M
Interest expense	(45)				(29)				(56)	%		(144)				(76)				(86)	%
Total investment and other income (expense)	4				24				(82)	%		(2)				70				N/M
Income before income taxes	49				89				(44)	%		163				238				(31)	%
Income tax expense	14				4				N/M			31				11				N/M
Net income	35				85				(59)	%		132				227				(42)	%
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests, net of tax	1				—				33	%		4				3				21	%
Net income attributable to UScellular shareholders	$	34			$	85			(60)	%		$	128			$	224			(43)	%
Basic weighted average shares outstanding	86				86				1	%		87				86				1	%
Basic earnings per share attributable to UScellular shareholders	$	0.39			$	0.98			(61)	%		$	1.48			$	2.60			(43)	%
Diluted weighted average shares outstanding	87				88				–			88				87				–
Diluted earnings per share attributable to UScellular shareholders	$	0.38			$	0.97			(60)	%		$	1.46			$	2.56			(43)	%

N/M - Percentage change not meaningful
1	During the three months ended September 30, 2021, UScellular recorded a $9 million out-of-period error, which increased Service revenue by $9 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021.

 

United States Cellular Corporation
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
(Unaudited)
	Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2021				2020
(Dollars in millions)
Cash flows from operating activities
Net income	$	132			$	227
Add (deduct) adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash flows from operating activities
Depreciation, amortization and accretion	510				516
Bad debts expense	34				52
Stock-based compensation expense	20				25
Deferred income taxes, net	47				158
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated entities	(137)				(137)
Distributions from unconsolidated entities	106				118
(Gain) loss on asset disposals, net	15				14
(Gain) loss on sale of business and other exit costs, net	(1)				—
(Gain) loss on investments	—				(3)
Other operating activities	31				1
Changes in assets and liabilities from operations
Accounts receivable	19				31
Equipment installment plans receivable	(44)				13
Inventory	10				5
Accounts payable	(33)				77
Customer deposits and deferred revenues	10				(23)
Accrued taxes	(36)				(102)
Accrued interest	7				14
Other assets and liabilities	(23)				(36)
Net cash provided by operating activities	667				950
Cash flows from investing activities
Cash paid for additions to property, plant and equipment	(456)				(690)
Cash paid for licenses	(1,263)				(169)
Cash received from investments	3				1
Cash paid for investments	—				(1)
Cash received from divestitures and exchanges	2				1
Advance payments for license acquisitions	(20)				—
Other investing activities	2				3
Net cash used in investing activities	(1,732)				(855)
Cash flows from financing activities
Issuance of long-term debt	1,217				625
Repayment of long-term debt	(1,117)				(6)
Common Shares reissued for benefit plans, net of tax payments	(16)				(12)
Repurchase of Common Shares	(21)				(23)
Payment of debt issuance costs	(20)				(20)
Distributions to noncontrolling interests	(2)				(2)
Other financing activities	(4)				—
Net cash provided by financing activities	37				562
Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	(1,028)				657
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash
Beginning of period	1,291				291
End of period	$	263			$	948

 

United States Cellular Corporation
Consolidated Balance Sheet Highlights
(Unaudited)
ASSETS
	September 30, 2021				December 31, 2020
(Dollars in millions)
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$	231			$	1,271
Short-term investments	—				3
Accounts receivable, net	978				998
Inventory, net	136				146
Prepaid expenses	59				51
Income taxes receivable	125				125
Other current assets	42				29
Total current assets	1,571				2,623
Assets held for sale	3				2
Licenses	4,102				2,629
Investments in unconsolidated entities	466				435
Property, plant and equipment, net	2,457				2,466
Operating lease right-of-use assets	953				924
Other assets and deferred charges	592				602
Total assets	$	10,144			$	9,681

 

United States Cellular Corporation
Consolidated Balance Sheet Highlights
(Unaudited)
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
	September 30, 2021				December 31, 2020
(Dollars in millions, except per share amounts)
Current liabilities
Current portion of long-term debt	$	3			$	2
Accounts payable	372				387
Customer deposits and deferred revenues	161				151
Accrued taxes	32				48
Accrued compensation	69				82
Short-term operating lease liabilities	126				116
Other current liabilities	93				85
Total current liabilities	856				871
Liabilities held for sale	—				1
Deferred liabilities and credits
Deferred income tax liability, net	680				633
Long-term operating lease liabilities	890				875
Other deferred liabilities and credits	565				376
Long-term debt, net	2,604				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	1,671				1,651
Treasury shares	(58)				(67)
Retained earnings	2,822				2,739
Total UScellular shareholders' equity	4,523				4,411
Noncontrolling interests	16				15
Total equity	4,539				4,426
Total liabilities and equity	$	10,144			$	9,681

 

United States Cellular Corporation
Financial Measures and Reconciliations
(Unaudited)
Free Cash Flow
	Three Months Ended September 30,								Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2021				2020				2021				2020
(Dollars in millions)
Cash flows from operating activities (GAAP)	$	304			$	257			$	667			$	950
Less: Cash paid for additions to property, plant and equipment	175				219				456				690
Free cash flow (Non-GAAP)1	$	129			$	38			$	211			$	260

1	Free cash flow is a non-GAAP financial measure which UScellular believes may be useful to investors and other users of its financial information in evaluating liquidity, specifically, the amount of net cash generated by business operations after deducting Cash paid for additions to property, plant and equipment.

 

 

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SOURCE United States Cellular Corporation

FAQ

What were UScellular's Q3 2021 financial results?

UScellular reported total revenues of $1,016 million and net income of $34 million for Q3 2021.

How did UScellular's service revenues perform in Q3 2021?

Service revenues rose to $788 million in Q3 2021, compared to $775 million in the same period last year.

What changes were made to UScellular's 2021 revenue estimates?

UScellular adjusted its service revenue estimate for 2021 to $3,075-$3,125 million.

What is the significance of UScellular's share repurchase in Q3 2021?

UScellular repurchased 626,410 shares for $20 million, reflecting confidence in its stock value.

When is UScellular's next conference call?

UScellular's next conference call is scheduled for November 4, 2021, at 4:00 p.m. CDT.