Citizens Utilities Announces 1997 Fourth-Quarter and Year-End Results.STAMFORD Stamford, town, England Stamford, town (1991 pop. 18,127), in the Parts of Kesteven, Lincolnshire, E central England, on the Welland River. It is a market town. Products include diesel engines, electrical equipment, bricks, and tiles. , Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- March 12, 1998 -Citizens Utilities' chief financial officer, Robert Robert, Henry Martyn 1837-1923. American army engineer and parliamentary authority. He designed the defenses for Washington, D.C., during the Civil War and later wrote Robert's Rules of Order (1876). Noun 1. J. DeSantis, announced today 1997 fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 1997 financial results. For the fourth quarter, revenues grew 12% to $379 million over the $339 million reported for the corresponding 1996 quarter. Net income of $80 million increased 67% compared to net income of $48 million for the fourth quarter of 1996. Earnings per share of 32 cents for the fourth quarter of 1997 increased 69% from 19 cents for the fourth quarter of 1996 . Results for the fourth quarter 1997 included a one time after-tax gain of $51 million from the sale of a minority interest in the company's competitive local exchange subsidiary, Electric Lightwave, Inc. Full year 1997 revenues grew 8% to $1.4 billion from $1.3 billion in 1996. 1997 reported net income was $10 million and earnings per share was 4 cents, as compared to net income of $179 million and earnings per share of 70 cents in 1996. 1997 results were affected by two special items: a $135 million after-tax charge primarily related to the restructuring restructuring - The transformation from one representation form to another at the same relative abstraction level, while preserving the subject system's external behaviour (functionality and semantics). of the company's communications business and the $51 million after-tax gain from the sale of subsidiary stock. Absent these special items, 1997 earnings and earnings per share were $94 million and 37 cents, respectively. 1997 earnings and earnings per share also reflect the absorption of $34 million, or 9 cents per share Cents per share The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned. , for Electric Lightwave's operating losses operating loss The excess of operating expenses over revenue. As with operating income, operating losses exclude revenues and expenses from operations that are not considered a regular part of the business. Also called deficit. Compare operating income. . Mr. DeSantis stated that, "Citizens Communications Citizens Communications is the parent company of Frontier Telephone, providing telephone and internet access in 24 states. The company headquarters are located at 3 High Ridge Park in Stamford, Connecticut. revenues increased 9% to $817 million in 1997 while annual revenue per access line grew 4% to $935, well above the industry average . All three major revenue components-- network access services, local network services and long distance services--showed positive gains. Annual access line growth of 5% continues to exceed the industry average while in territory toll minutes of use grew 6% and Citizens Long Distance toll minutes of use increased 120% over 1996." "Citizens Public Services Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly (through the public sector) or by financing private provision of services. 1997 revenues were $540 million, up 4% over 1996. 1997 operating income Operating Income The profit realized from a business' own operations. Notes: This would not include income from things such as investments in other firms. Also referred to as operating profit or recurring profit. of $104 million increased 17% over the prior year. Citizens Public Services productivity measurements continue to top the industry with 475 customers per employee and $171,300 of net revenue per employee," Mr. DeSantis noted. Commenting on Electric Lightwave Mr. DeSantis stated, "the November 1997 initial public offering of Electric Lightwave common securities established a public market enterprise value for the subsidiary of approximately $1 billion. Citizens' 83% interest in this enterprise translates into approximately $830 million of value, or over $3.25 per share, for Citizens' shareholders. This value creation validates the $130 million of Electric Lightwave's aggregate operating losses which have impacted Citizens' earnings over the past several years. The initial public offering also provided funding for Electric Lightwave's expansion at the lowest cost of capital to Citizens shareholders and bondholders." Citizens Utilities (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : CZN, CZNPr) provides Communications Services and Public Services including, natural gas distribution, electric distribution, water distribution and wastewater treatment services to approximately 1.8 million customers in 20 states. Citizens owns a controlling interest controlling interest The ownership of a quantity of outstanding corporate stock sufficient to control the actions of the firm. Controlling interest often involves ownership of significantly less than 51% of a firm's outstanding stock because many owners fail in Electric Lightwave, Inc.,(NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :ELIX), a leading full-service, facilities-based integrated communications services provider and has investments in Centennial Cellular Corp. (NASDAQ:CYCL), a cellular telephone company, and Hungarian Telephone and Cable Hungarian Telephone and Cable Corp. (HTCC) (AMEX:HTC) is a telecommunications company based in Seattle, Washington, USA. It provides a variety of telecommunications services in Hungary through its subsidiaries, Hungarotel Tavkozlesi Rt. and Pantel Tavkozlesi Kft. Corp. (ASE (Adaptive Server Enterprise) A relational DBMS from Sybase that runs on Windows NT/2000, Linux and a variety of Unix platforms. ASE is a comprehensive and robust data management product with a long history dating back to the late 1980s. : HTC HTC HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) Component HTC High Tech Computer Corp (Taiwan, China) HTC Hennepin Technical College (Minnesota) HTC High-Throughput Computing ).
Citizens Utilities Company and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Financial Data
For the year ended
December 31, %
1997 1996 Change
(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)
Income Statement Data
Revenues $ 1,414,386 $ 1,306,517 8%
Cost of services 333,561 285,749 17%
Sales and marketing
expenses 46,073 42,823 8%
Network expenses 98,935 64,645 53%
Depreciation 235,812 193,733 22%
Other operating
expenses 592,008 488,526 21%
Operating income 206,932 295,686 -30%
Charges to
earnings(1) 191,090 - n/a
Operating income
including
charges to
earnings 15,842 295,686 n/a
Non operating
gain on sale
of subsidiary
stock(1) 78,734 - n/a
Investment and
other income 42,706 66,455 -36%
Interest expense 107,585 92,695 16%
Charges to
earnings (1) 6,230 - n/a
Income taxes 7,157 84,937 -92%
Convertible
preferred
dividends 6,210 5,849 6%
Net income 10,100 178,660 -94%
Net income
excluding
special
items (1) 94,087 178,660 -47%
Per-Share Data (2)
Basic net
income per
share of
common stock $ .04 $ .70 -94%
Basic net
income per
share of common
stock excluding
special items $.37 $ .70 -47%
Basic net income
per share of
common stock
excluding special
items and ELI (3) $ .46 $ .77 -40%
Weighted average shares 252,563 253,592 0%
(1) Special items impacting the 1997 income statement include charges to earnings of $197.3 million ($135.2 million after tax) and a non operating gain on sale of subsidiary stock of $78.7 million ($51.2 million after tax). (2) Adjusted for subsequent stock dividends and stock splits and used in the calculation of all per share data. No adjustment has been made for the Company's .75% first quarter 1998 stock dividend because the effect is immaterial Not essential or necessary; not important or pertinent; not decisive; of no substantial consequence; without weight; of no material significance. immaterial adj. . (3) ELI Eli (ē`lī), in the Bible, high priest and judge of Israel, teacher of the boy Samuel. 1. (language) ELI - An early system on the IBM 705 and IBM 650. [Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959)]. 2. is Electric Lightwave, Inc., the Company's competitive local exchange subsidiary. CONTACT: Citizens Utilities Alice Catalano, 203/614-5185 acatalan@czn.com |
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