WOW WideOpenWest Inc

Continued to Grow Penetration Rates in Expansion Markets

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Nov. 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- WideOpenWest, Inc. ("WOW!" or the "Company") (NYSE: WOW), one of the nation's leading broadband providers, with an efficient, high-performing network that passes nearly 2.0 million residential, business and wholesale consumers, today announced financial and operating results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024.

Third Quarter 2024 Highlights ⁽¹⁾

• Total Revenue of $158.0 million, a decrease of $15.1 million, or 8.7%, compared to the third quarter of 2023
• HSD Revenue totaled $107.5 million, a decrease of $2.3 million, or 2.1%, compared to the third quarter of 2023
• Net Loss was $22.4 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024
• Adjusted EBITDA of $77.3 million, an increase of $6.4 million, or 9.0%, compared to the third quarter of 2023
• Net loss of 4,400 HSD RGUs for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, including 1,900 related to the discontinuation of the Affordable Connectivity Program
• Passed approximately 1,700 new homes in Greenfield and Edge-out markets in the third quarter of 2024
• On October 11, 2024, closed on $200.0 million new super-priority term loan

"During the third quarter we demonstrated the strength of our strategy in our expansion markets where we increased penetration rates to higher levels and grew ARPU," said Teresa Elder, WOW!'s CEO. "We continue to make progress in these new markets, especially as we added customers in Hernando County, Florida where we recently expanded our all-fiber network."

"Securing the new $200 million term loan strengthened our balance sheet and improved liquidity which has enabled us to reaccelerate our fiber expansion strategy in Greenfield markets," said John Rego, WOW!'s CFO. "We also continued to aggressively manage our expenses to drive Adjusted EBITDA higher."

Revenue
Total Revenue was $158.0 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, down $15.1 million, or 8.7%, as compared to the corresponding period in 2023.

Total Subscription Revenue for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 was $146.0 million, down $14.3 million, or 8.9%, as compared to the corresponding period in 2023. The decrease is primarily driven by a shift in service offering mix as we continue to experience a reduction across all RGUs, coupled with a decrease in volume across all services.  The decrease is partially offset by an increase in average revenue per unit ("ARPU") driven by rate increases issued in the first quarter and third quarter of 2024, partially offset by $0.6 million of revenue credits issued to customers in those markets impacted by Hurricane Helene.

Other Business Services Revenue totaled $4.5 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, down $0.9 million, or 16.7%, as compared with the corresponding period in 2023 primarily due to decreases in wholesale and data center revenue.

Other Revenue totaled $7.5 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, up $0.1 million, or 1.4%, as compared to the corresponding period in 2023 primarily due to increases in advertising revenue, partially offset by a decrease in paper statement fees.

Costs and Expenses
Operating Expenses (excluding Depreciation and Amortization) totaled $62.6 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, down $13.0 million, or 17%, compared to the corresponding period in 2023. The decrease was primarily driven by a reduction in direct operating expense, specifically programming expense, which aligns with the reduction in Video RGUs between periods, as well as decreases in call center costs, stock compensation and bad debt expenses, partially offset by increases in compensation related expenses. Selling, General, and Administrative expenses totaled $37.9 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, up $0.4 million, or 1%, compared to the corresponding period in 2023. The increase is primarily driven by legal and professional fees, partially offset by reductions in marketing expenses and stock compensation. 

Net Loss
Net Loss for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 was $22.4 million as compared to net loss of $104.5 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2023. Net Profit Margin was (14.2)% for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 as compared to (60.4)% for the quarter ended September 30, 2023.

Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 was $77.3 million, an increase of $6.4 million compared to the corresponding period in 2023. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 48.9% for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, as compared to 41.0% for the quarter ended September 30, 2023.

Subscribers
WOW! reported Total Subscribers of approximately 490,500 as of September 30, 2024, a decrease of 26,900, or 5%, compared to September 30, 2023, down 4,700 compared to June 30, 2024.  HSD RGUs totaled 480,600 as of September 30, 2024, a decrease of 22,800, or 5%, compared to September 30, 2023, and down 4,400 compared to June 30, 2024.

Market Expansion
Market Expansion projects passed an additional 1,700 homes for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, including 100 additional homes in Greenfield markets and 1,600 additional homes in Edge-out projects. As of September 30, 2024, Greenfield initiatives passed a total of 52,600 homes and 9,200 subscribers, representing a 17.5% penetration rate.

At September 30, 2024, the 2024 Edge-out projects passed 6,000 new homes and 2,700 subscribers, representing a 45.0% penetration rate. The 2023 Edge-out projects passed 18,500 new homes and 5,500 subscribers, which represents 29.7% penetration. The 2022 Edge-out projects passed 2,900 new homes and 900 subscribers, which represents 31.0% penetration.

Capital Expenditures
Capital Expenditures totaled $40.5 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, representing a $24.0 million decrease compared to the quarter ended September 30, 2023. The decrease is primarily related to decreases in scalable infrastructure, line extensions, and support capital and other as a result of lower spending on market expansion initiatives. Core Capital Expenditures, or total capital expenditures excluding expansion capital expenditures, equated to 19% of Total Revenue for the quarter ended September 30, 2024.

Liquidity and Leverage
On October 11, 2024, the Company closed on a new super-priority credit agreement consisting of a new Senior Term Loan in an aggregate principal amount of $200.0 million, with a group of existing lenders. The super-priority credit agreement will mature in December 2028, bear interest at a rate equal to SOFR plus 7.00% and have priority over the Company's existing credit facility.

As of September 30, 2024, the total outstanding amount of long-term debt and finance lease obligations was $973.0 million, and cash and cash equivalents were $21.6 million. Total Net Leverage as of September 30, 2024, was 3.4x on a LTM Adjusted EBITDA basis and undrawn revolver capacity totaled $0.4 million.

Acquisition Proposal Update
On May 2, 2024, the WOW! Board of Directors received an unsolicited non-binding preliminary acquisition proposal from DigitalBridge Investments, LLC and various Crestview entities. A special committee of independent directors has been formed to evaluate the Proposal. The Special Committee has retained Centerview Partners and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz as its financial and legal advisors. The work of the Special Committee is ongoing. WOW! does not undertake any obligation to make any further public comment or disclosure on matters related to the proposal or related matters unless and until WOW! determines that additional disclosure is appropriate or required by law.

Full Year 2024 Guidance

Webcast
WOW! will host a webcast and conference call on Monday, November 4, 2024 at 4:30 p.m. ET to discuss the financial and operating results contained in this press release. The conference call and webcast will be broadcast live on the Company's investor relations website at ir.wowway.com. Those parties interested in participating can use the information as follows:

A replay of the call will be available on the investor relations website.

About WOW! Internet, TV & Phone
WOW! is one of the nation's leading broadband providers, with an efficient and high-performing network that passes nearly 2 million residential, business and wholesale consumers. WOW! provides services in 19 markets, primarily in the Midwest and Southeast, including Michigan, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, including the new all-fiber networks in Central Florida and Greenville County, South Carolina. With an expansive portfolio of advanced services, including high-speed Internet services, cable TV, home phone, mobile phone, business data, voice, and cloud services, the company is dedicated to providing outstanding service at affordable prices. WOW! also serves as a leader in exceptional human resources practices, having been recognized 11 times by the National Association for Business Resources as a Best & Brightest Company to Work For in the Nation, winning the award for the last seven consecutive years and making the 2022 Top 101 National Winners list. Visit www.wowway.com for more information.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release, including statements related to any future events or potential transactions, that are not historical facts contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.  These forward-looking statements represent our goals, beliefs, plans and expectations about our prospects for the future and other future events. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical fact and can be identified by terms such as "may," "intend," "might," "will," "should," "could," "would," "anticipate," "expect," "believe," "estimate," "plan," "project," "predict," "potential," or the negative of these terms. Although these forward-looking statements reflect our good-faith belief and reasonable judgment based on current information, these statements are qualified by important factors, many of which are beyond our control that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These factors and other risks that could cause our actual results to differ materially include all matters relating to the acquisition proposal (including any response by the Company to such proposal, any further actions that may be taken by Crestview, DigitalBridge or any third party, any transaction that may result from the proposal or otherwise, the possibility that no transaction may result from the proposal or any impact on our business or operations as a result of the proposal), the effects of adverse weather events, including recent hurricanes in the southeastern U.S., and the other matters set forth in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report filed on Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and other reports subsequently filed with the SEC. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this report are made as of the date hereof or the date specified herein, based on information available to us as of such date. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The Company has included certain non-GAAP financial measures in this release, including Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin. These terms, as defined herein, are not intended to be considered in isolation, as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America ("GAAP"). These terms may vary from the use of similar terms by other companies in our industry due to different methods of calculation and therefore are not necessarily comparable.

We believe that these non-GAAP measures enhance an investor's understanding of our financial performance. We believe that these non-GAAP measures are useful financial metrics to assess our operating performance from period to period by excluding certain items that we believe are not representative of our core business. We believe that these non-GAAP measures provide investors with useful information for assessing the comparability between periods of our ability to generate cash from operations sufficient to pay taxes, to service debt and to undertake Capital Expenditures. We use these non-GAAP measures for business planning purposes and in measuring our performance relative to that of our competitors. We believe these non-GAAP measures are measures commonly used by investors to evaluate our performance and that of our competitors.

Adjusted EBITDA eliminates the impact of expenses that do not relate to overall business performance and is defined by WOW! as net income (loss) before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization (including impairments), impairment losses on intangibles and goodwill, write-off of any asset, loss on early extinguishment of debt, integration and restructuring expenses and all non‑cash charges and expenses (including stock compensation expense) and certain other income and expenses. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to net income (loss), operating income or any other performance measures derived in accordance with GAAP as measures of operating performance, operating cash flows or liquidity.

Refer to "Reconciliations of GAAP Measures to Non-GAAP Measures" and the accompanying tables below for a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Net Income and Adjusted EBITDA margin to Net Profit margin which are the most directly comparable corresponding GAAP financial measures.

Subscriber Information
The Company uses the terms defined below throughout this release.

Homes passed are reported as the number of serviceable addresses, such as single residence homes, apartments and condominium units, and businesses passed by our broadband network and listed in our database.

We deliver multiple services to our customers, as such we report Total Subscribers as the number of Subscribers who receive at least one of our HSD, Video or Telephony services, without regard to which or how many services they subscribe. We define each of the individual HSD Subscribers, Video Subscribers and Telephony Subscribers as a Revenue Generating Unit ("RGU").

While we take appropriate steps to ensure subscriber information is presented on a consistent and accurate basis at any given balance sheet date, we periodically review our policies in light of the variability we may encounter across our different markets due to the nature and pricing of products and services and billing systems. Accordingly, we may from time to time make appropriate adjustments to our subscriber information based on such reviews.

Additional Information Available on Website:
The information in this press release should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and footnotes contained in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, which will be posted on of our investor relations website at ir.wowway.com, when it is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A slide presentation to accompany the conference call and a trending schedule containing historical customer and financial data will also be available on our website.

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SOURCE WideOpenWest, Inc.