Consolidated Communications Announces First Quarter 2024 Financial Results

Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: CNSL) (the “Company” or “Consolidated”), a top 10 fiber provider in the U.S., today reported results for first quarter 2024.

First Quarter 2024 Results

• Revenue totaled $274.7 million
• Overall consumer revenue was $114.8 million
• Consumer fiber broadband revenue was $41.6 million
• Total consumer broadband net adds were 6,338
• Consumer broadband revenue was $79.9 million
• Commercial data services revenue was $54.7 million
• Carrier data-transport revenue was $31.0 million
• Net loss was ($47.2 million). Adjusted EBITDA was $88.4 million
• Total committed capital expenditures were $83.7 million

Cost of services and products and selling, general and administrative expenses collectively decreased $15.8 million versus the prior year largely due to decreased USF contributions, lower video programming costs, a reduction in salaries driven by certain cost savings initiatives, and lower access expense.

Net interest expense was $42.5 million, an increase of $8.6 million versus the prior year, primarily as a result of higher interest rates on the term loan, in addition to decreased interest income due to lower cash holdings in the current quarter. At Mar. 31, 2024, the Company had 73% of its total outstanding debt at a fixed rate through September 2026. As of Mar. 31, 2024, the weighted average cost of debt was 7.14%.

Net loss in the first quarter of 2024 was ($47.2 million) compared to net loss of ($47.7 million) in the first quarter of 2023. Net loss per share was ($0.41) in the first quarter of 2024 as compared to net loss per share of ($0.42) in the first quarter of 2023. Adjusted diluted net income (loss) per share excludes certain items as outlined in the table provided in this release. Adjusted diluted net loss per share was ($0.27) compared to ($0.28) in the first quarter of 2023.

Capital Expenditures

Total committed capital expenditures were $83.7 million, driven by 10,783 new fiber passings, first quarter fiber adds, and reflect the usage of existing inventory for install and build activity.

Capital Structure

On Mar. 21, 2024, the Company, as borrower, entered into an $80 million term loan agreement (“Term Loan Agreement”) with Searchlight CVL AGG, L.P. as lender. The Term Loan Agreement provides the Company with the ability to borrow on the loan in the event either the aggregate amount of available loans to be drawn under the Company’s revolving credit facility is less than $25.0 million or drawing under the Company’s revolving credit facility would trigger the financial maintenance covenant thereunder and the Company would not be in compliance with such covenant on a pro forma basis, subject to the satisfaction of certain other customary conditions.

As of Mar. 31, 2024, the Company maintained liquidity with cash and short-term investments of approximately $7 million, as well as $111 million of available borrowing capacity under the Company’s revolving credit facility and $80 million undrawn under its Term Loan Agreement, in each case, subject to certain covenants. The net debt leverage ratio for the trailing 12 months ended Mar. 31, 2024, was 6.76x.

Washington Asset Sale

On May 1, 2024, Consolidated completed the sale of its Washington assets.

Pending Transaction

As previously announced on Oct. 16, 2023, Consolidated entered into an agreement to be acquired by affiliates of Searchlight Capital Partners, L.P. and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation in an all-cash transaction with an enterprise value of approximately $3.1 billion, including the assumption of debt. On Jan. 31, 2024, at a special meeting of shareholders, approximately 75% of shares held by disinterested shareholders voted to approve the proposal to adopt the merger agreement and approve the pending transaction. The transaction will result in Consolidated becoming a private company and is expected to close by the first quarter of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals. The transaction is not subject to a financing condition. Following the closing of the transaction, shares of Consolidated common stock will no longer be traded or listed on any public securities exchange.

In light of the transaction, Consolidated will not host an earnings conference call.

About Consolidated Communications

Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: CNSL) is dedicated to moving people, businesses and communities forward by delivering the most reliable fiber communications solutions. Consumers, businesses and wireless and wireline carriers depend on Consolidated for a wide range of high-speed internet, data, phone, security, cloud and wholesale carrier solutions. With a network spanning over 61,000 fiber route miles, Consolidated is a top 10 U.S. fiber provider, turning technology into solutions that are backed by exceptional customer support. Learn more at consolidated.com.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release includes disclosures regarding “EBITDA,” “adjusted EBITDA,” “Net debt leverage ratio,” and “adjusted diluted net income (loss) per share,” all of which are non-GAAP financial measures. Accordingly, they should not be construed as alternatives to net cash from operating or investing activities, cash and cash equivalents, cash flows from operations, net income or net income per share as defined by GAAP and are not, on their own, necessarily indicative of cash available to fund cash needs as determined in accordance with GAAP. In addition, not all companies use identical calculations, and the non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable financial measures presented in accordance with GAAP is included in the tables that follow.

Adjusted EBITDA is comprised of EBITDA, adjusted for certain items as permitted or required by the lenders under our credit agreement in place at the end of each quarter in the periods presented. The tables that follow include an explanation of how adjusted EBITDA is calculated for each of the periods presented with the reconciliation to net income (loss). EBITDA is defined as net income (loss) before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization on a historical basis.

We present adjusted EBITDA for several reasons. Management believes adjusted EBITDA is useful as a means to evaluate our ability to fund our estimated uses of cash (including interest on our debt). In addition, we have presented adjusted EBITDA to investors in the past because it is frequently used by investors, securities analysts and other interested parties in the evaluation of companies in our industry, and management believes presenting it here provides a measure of consistency in our financial reporting. Adjusted EBITDA, referred to as Available Cash in our credit agreement, is also a component of the restrictive covenants and financial ratios contained in our credit agreement that requires us to maintain compliance with these covenants and limit certain activities, such as our ability to incur debt. The definitions in these covenants and ratios are based on Adjusted EBITDA after giving effect to specified charges. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA provides our board of directors with meaningful information, with other data, assumptions and considerations, to measure our ability to service and repay debt. We present the related “Net debt leverage ratio” principally to help investors understand how we measure leverage and facilitate comparisons by investors, security analysts and others. Total net debt is defined as the current and long-term portions of debt and finance lease obligations less cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, deferred debt issuance costs and discounts on debt. Our Net debt leverage ratio differs in certain respects from the similar ratio used in our credit agreement or against comparable measures of certain other companies in our industry. These measures differ in certain respects from the ratios used in our senior notes indenture.

These non-GAAP financial measures have certain shortcomings. In particular, Adjusted EBITDA does not represent the residual cash flows available for discretionary expenditures, since items such as debt repayment and interest payments are not deducted from such measure. In addition, the Net debt leverage ratio is subject to the risk that we may not be able to use the cash on the balance sheet to reduce our debt on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Management believes this ratio is useful as a means to evaluate our ability to incur additional indebtedness in the future.

We present the non-GAAP measure “adjusted diluted net income (loss) per share” because our net income (loss) and net income (loss) per share are regularly affected by items that occur at irregular intervals or are non-cash items. We believe that disclosing these measures assists investors, securities analysts and other interested parties in evaluating both our company over time and the relative performance of the companies in our industry.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release, including those relating to the current expectations, plans, strategies, and the timeline for consummating the take private transaction with Searchlight Capital Partners, L.P. and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation by the first quarter of 2025, are forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect, among other things, our current expectations, plans, strategies and anticipated financial results. There are a number of risks, uncertainties and conditions that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, including: significant competition in all parts of our business and among our customer channels; our ability to adapt to rapid technological changes; shifts in our product mix that may result in a decline in operating profitability; continued receipt of support from various funds established under federal and state laws; disruptions in our networks and infrastructure and any related service delays or disruptions could cause us to lose customers and incur additional expenses; cyber-attacks may lead to unauthorized access to confidential customer, personnel and business information that could adversely affect our business; our operations require substantial capital expenditures and our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity may be impacted if funds for capital expenditures are not available when needed; our ability to obtain and maintain necessary rights-of-way for our networks; our ability to obtain necessary hardware, software and operational support from third-party vendors; substantial video content costs continue to rise; our ability to enter into new collective bargaining agreements or renew existing agreements; our ability to attract and/or retain certain key management and other personnel in the future; risks associated with acquisitions and the realization of anticipated benefits from such acquisitions; increasing attention to, and evolving expectations for, environmental, social and governance initiatives; unfavorable changes in financial markets could affect pension plan investments; weak economic conditions; the risk that the proposed transaction may not be completed in a timely manner or at all; the possibility that any or all of the various conditions to the consummation of the proposed transaction may not be satisfied or waived, including the failure to receive any required regulatory approvals from any applicable governmental entities (or any conditions, limitations or restrictions placed on such approvals); the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the definitive transaction agreement relating to the proposed transaction, including in circumstances which would require the Company to pay a termination fee; the effect of the announcement or pendency of the proposed transaction on the Company’s ability to attract, motivate or retain key executives and employees, its ability to maintain relationships with its customers, suppliers and other business counterparties, or its operating results and business generally; risks related to the proposed transaction diverting management’s attention from the Company’s ongoing business operations; the amount of costs, fees and expenses related to the proposed transaction; the risk that the Company’s stock price may decline significantly if the proposed transaction is not consummated; the risk of shareholder litigation in connection with the proposed transaction, including resulting expense or delay; and the other risk factors described in Part I, Item 1A of Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 and the other risk factors identified from time to time in the Company’s other filings with the SEC. Filings with the SEC are available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. Many of these circumstances are beyond our ability to control or predict. Moreover, forward-looking statements necessarily involve assumptions on our part. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “should,” “may,” “will,” “would,” “will be,” “will continue” or similar expressions. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements that appear throughout this press release. Furthermore, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements, which are based on the information currently available to us and speak only as of the date they are made. Except as required under federal securities laws or the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, we disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements.

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