Exhibit 99.1
October 24, 2003
John Lowber, (907) 868-5628; jlowber@gci.com
Bruce Broquet, (907) 868-6660; bbroquet@gci.com
David Morris, (907) 265-5396; dmorris@gci.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GCI PREANNOUNCES THIRD QUARTER 2003 RESULTS
Restructured Bank Facility to Save $6 million per year in Interest Costs
o Third quarter net income of $4.5 million or $0.07 per diluted share
o Consolidated revenue of $98.3 million
o EBITDA of $30.7 million
ANCHORAGE, AK -- GCI (NASDAQ:GNCMA) today reported income from
continuing operations of $4.5 million, or earnings per diluted share of $0.07,
for the third quarter of 2003. The company's current quarter income compares to
income of $5.1 million, or earnings per diluted share of $0.08, in the third
quarter of 2002.
For the nine months that ended September 30, 2003, GCI expects to
report net income of $11.9 million, or earnings per diluted share of $0.18. This
is after the cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle of $0.5
million, or earnings per diluted share of $(0.01), net of income tax benefit.
During the same period in 2002, GCI recorded net income of $6.2 million, or
earnings per share of $0.08.
GCI's third quarter 2003 revenues are expected to total $98.3 million,
an increase of 3.9 percent over third quarter 2002 revenues of $94.6 million.
For the current quarter, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation,
amortization and accretion (EBITDA) is expected to be $30.7 million, an increase
of $0.4 million or 1.3 percent, over the same quarter in 2002. Third quarter
2002 EBITDA results were $30.3 million.
Sequentially, revenues for the company increased 2.5 percent over
second quarter 2003 revenues of $95.9 million. GCI's third quarter EBITDA of
$30.7 million compares to EBITDA of $30.8 million in the second quarter of 2003.
For the third quarter 2003, GCI exceeded its revenue guidance but was
below its EBITDA guidance. Previously, the company expected to achieve revenues
of approximately $95 million to $97 million, and approximately $32 million of
EBITDA. The reduction in EBITDA is attributed primarily to increases in
operating costs associated with regulatory proceedings and marketing acquisition
costs. In addition, GCI recorded a benefit of approximately $647,000 relating to
the reduction of its reserve for uncollectible accounts from MCI, but the effect
was mostly offset by an addition to the reserve for a potentially uncollectible
amount under another contract.
GCI also announced today that it has received commitments to
restructure its senior bank facility to reduce the interest rate it pays on its
senior
facility from LIBOR plus 650 basis points to LIBOR plus 325 basis points. The
reduced borrowing rate is expected to save GCI approximately $6 million per year
in interest costs.
"While the quarter marked the second highest EBITDA in the company's
history, we are disappointed that it did not meet our target of $32 million,"
said Ron Duncan, GCI president. "That is not acceptable and we have taken steps
to more vigorously control expenses. As we complete our annual budgeting cycle,
we will be looking carefully at the expenditure levels across the company."
"We now expect to achieve $121 million EBITDA for the year, excluding
the effect of any receivables recovery from MCI. At this time we see no reason
to reduce our previously stated goals for future year's performance. If our
expectations for future performance change as a result of the budgeting cycle we
will communicate that to our investors in a timely manner."
"The good news is that revenue and gross margin for the quarter met
expectations. The variance resulted from expenses that were higher than
expected. The increase in expenses included both temporary items, such as those
associated with the launch of our Alaska Airlines mileage program, and more
ordinary recurring expenses."
"I am pleased that as a result of both senior debt re-financing and
continued control of capital expenditures the company's free cash flow
generation for the year should exceed our original guidance."
Customer Highlights
o The local services business added 1,500 access lines during the
third quarter and now serves 103,400 local lines, an estimated 21
percent share of the total access line market in Alaska.
o The number of customers served on GCI's statewide dial-up Internet
platform decreased during the third quarter as more customers
continue to migrate to cable modems. More than 42,800 Internet
customers are using GCI cable modem service, an increase of 2,300
over the second quarter of 2003.
o GCI cable television services now pass 201,127 homes and serve
135,300 basic subscribers. Basic subscribers decreased
sequentially by 1,930 subscribers from the second quarter of 2003.
The decrease in subscribers is attributable in part to normal
seasonal declines of hotel customers and slower reconnections of
residential customers for the fall and winter seasons.
o Digital special interest subscribers increased sequentially by
4,100 when compared to the second quarter of 2003. GCI serves
34,800 digital customers in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Kenai,
Soldotna, Ketchikan and the Mat-Su Valley area.
o Long-distance billable minutes increased 4.7 percent to 314.4
million minutes for the third quarter as compared to the same
quarter of 2002, and increased 11.8 percent sequentially.
Further detailed results and financial tables for the third quarter of
2003 will be released on November 5, 2003. GCI will also hold an institutional
investor and analyst conference call on November 6, 2003 at 2 p.m. Eastern time.
To access the briefing on November 6, dial 888-791-1856 (international callers
should dial 773-756-4602) and identify your call as "GCI." In addition to the
conference call, GCI will make available net conferencing. To access the call
via net conference, log on to www.gci.com and follow the instructions.
The foregoing contains forward-looking statements regarding the
company's expected results that are based on management's expectations as well
as on a number of assumptions concerning future events. Actual results might
differ materially from those projected in the forward looking statements due to
uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside GCI's control.
Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those in the forward looking statements is contained in
GCI's cautionary statement sections of Form 10-K and 10-Q filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
GCI is the largest Alaska-based and operated integrated
telecommunications provider. The company provides local, wireless, and long
distance telephone, cable television, Internet and data communication services.
More information about the company can be found at www.gci.com.
# # #
Non-GAAP Financial Reconciliation Schedule
Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended
September 30, September 30, September 30, September 30,
(Amounts in Millions) 2003 2002 June 30, 2003 2003 2002
------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
EBITDA (Note 1) $ 30.7 30.3 30.8 90.4 74.1
Depreciation, amortization and accretion expense 13.1 13.9 12.8 39.4 41.8
------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
Operating income 17.6 16.4 18.0 51.0 32.3
------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
Other income (expense):
Interest expense (8.9) (7.5) (9.1) (27.1) (20.3)
Deferred loan and senior notes fee expense (0.6) (0.3) (0.6) (2.4) (1.5)
Interest income 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.5 0.3
------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
Other expense, net (9.3) (7.7) (9.6) (29.0) (21.5)
------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
Net income before income taxes and
cumulative effect of a change in accounting
principle 8.3 8.7 8.4 22.0 10.8
Income tax expense 3.8 3.6 3.6 9.6 4.6
------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
Net income before cumulative effect of a
change in accounting principle 4.5 5.1 4.8 12.4 6.2
Cumulative effect of a change in accounting
principle, net of income tax benefit of $0.4 - - - (0.5) -
------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
Net income $ 4.5 5.1 4.8 11.9 6.2
============= ============= ============= ============= =============
Notes:
(1) EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) is
the sum of Net Income, Net Other Expense, Taxes, and Depreciation, Amortization
and Accretion. EBITDA is not presented as an alternative measure of net income,
operating income or cash flow from operations, as determined in accordance with
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) GCI's management uses EBITDA to
evaluate the operating performance of its business, and as a measure of
performance for incentive compensation purposes. GCI believes EBITDA is a
measure used as an analytical indicator of income generated to service debt and
fund capital expenditures. In addition, multiples of current or projected EBITDA
are used to estimate current or prospective enterprise value. EBITDA does not
give effect to cash used for debt service requirements, and thus does not
reflect funds available for investment or other discretionary uses. EBITDA as
presented herein may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by
other companies.