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(Roseville, California) - Integrated communications provider
SureWest Communications (Nasdaq:SURW), parent company of the largest
independent local exchange company headquartered in California,
today announced operating results for the quarter and nine-month
periods ended September 30, 2001.
SureWest reported quarterly operating revenue of $40.7 and $121.7
million for the quarter and nine-month periods, 4.3 percent and
7.8 percent higher than the same periods in 2000. Net income in
the third quarter was $1.4 million, or $.09 per share, down from
$7.5 million or $.48 per share, in the third quarter of 2000 and
net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2001, was $7.9
million, or $.51 per share, compared to $19.1 million or $1.22 per
share, in the same period a year earlier. Both the third quarter
and nine-month declines in 2001 reflect ongoing planned investments
in SureWest's wireless and broadband businesses and the continuing
effect of the regulatory order issued by the California Public Utilities
Commission in June, 2001, related to the telephone subsidiary's
new regulatory framework.
Operating expenses increased to $39.1 million and $113.6 million
in the quarterly and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2001,
compared to $29.3 million and $84.5 million in the prior-year periods,
as SureWest continued to expand its service capabilities, particularly
in wireless and broadband.
"Our strategy sets us apart from competitors," said Brian
Strom, SureWest Communications president and CEO. "We're leveraging
our local communications strength and expertise to consistently
expand our service area, our customer base and our revenues. We
are growing our business while maintaining our financial strength."
Operating revenues in the company's wireless subsidiary, SureWest
Wireless, rose 135 percent compared to the third quarter of 2000,
while customer counts increased 220 percent over third quarter 2000
levels.
SureWest's Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC), SureWest
Broadband, completed its Sacramento Fiber Network, three robust
fiber routes through Sacramento's concentrated commercial clusters
that boost total fiber to nearly 50,000 miles. SureWest also saw
its residential DSL lines double to 10,000 since the third quarter
of 2000.
* * * * *
The Board of Directors also declared its regular
quarterly dividend of $.25 per share payable December 14, 2001 to
shareholders of record on November 30, 2001.
SureWest Communications
Financial Summary and Comparisons
(dollars in millions, except per share amounts)
(unaudited)
| Period
|
Revenue
|
Net
Income |
Basic
Earnings Per Share |
| Ended
|
$ |
% Change
|
$ |
% Change
|
Latest
|
Year Ago
|
% Change
|
| 3 months ended
9/30/01 |
40.7
|
4.3
|
1.4
|
(81.3)
|
.09
|
.48
|
(81.3)
|
| 9
months ended 9/30/01 |
121.7
|
7.8
|
7.9
|
(58.6)
|
.51
|
1.22
|
(58.2)
|
About SureWest Communications
SureWest Communications and its family of companies including
Roseville Telephone Company, SureWest Wireless, SureWest Broadband,
SureWest Internet, SureWest Directories, SureWest Long Distance
and QuikNet, Inc., create value for customers and shareholders through
an integrated network of highly reliable advanced communications
products and services with unsurpassed customer care. The company's
principal operating subsidiary, Roseville Telephone Company, is
California's third largest telecommunications company, and has provided
telecommunications services for 86 years as the Incumbent Local
Exchange Carrier (ILEC) to the communities of Roseville, Citrus
Heights, Granite Bay, Antelope and parts of Rocklin. The company,
through its Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) and subsidiaries,
is licensed to provide fiber optics, 39 GHz wireless, PCS wireless,
DSL, high-speed Internet access and data transport. For more information,
visit the SureWest web site at www.surewest.com.
Statements made in this news release that are not historical
facts are forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the
safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of
risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause the company's
actual results to differ from those projected in such forward-looking
statements.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ
from those set forth in the forward-looking statements include,
but are not limited to: advances in telecommunications technology,
changes in the telecommunications regulatory environment, changes
in competition in markets in which the company operates, the availability
of future financing, changes in the demand for services and products,
new product and service development and introductions, pending and
future litigation and unanticipated changes in the growth of the
company's emerging businesses, including the PCS, Internet and CLEC
operating entities.
# # #
For more information, contact media@surewest.com.
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