Press Release
D&E COMMUNICATIONS, INC. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 10, 2005 | NEWS RELEASE CONTACT PERSON: |
EPHRATA, PENNSYLVANIA (May 9, 2005) - D&E Communications, Inc. ("D&E") (Nasdaq: DECC), a leading provider of broadband integrated communications services in central and eastern Pennsylvania, today announced the results of its operations for the first quarter ended March 31, 2005.
For the first quarter of 2005 the company reported total operating revenue of $42.8 million, as compared to $43.8 million in the first quarter of 2004. Net income for the first quarter was $2.9 million, or $0.20 per share, as compared to a net loss of $2.3 million, or $0.15 per share, for the same period last year.
Included in the 2005 results was a gain on investment of $2.1 million ($1.4 million, or $0.10 per common share, after tax) from the sale of our interest in PenTeleData. The 2004 first quarter results included a loss on early extinguishment of debt amounting to $4.8 million ($3.3 million, or $0.21 per common share, after tax) related to the company's refinancing of its debt in March 2004.
"The results of the quarter reflect the importance of our competitive business segments to the growth of our company. In particular, we saw significant year-over-year growth in our Internet services segment, with our broadband DSL subscriber count up 65 percent from March 31, 2004, to March 31, 2005," said James W. Morozzi, President and Chief Executive Officer of D&E Communications. "Access line counts in our traditional telephone company territories declined over the year, following a trend we see throughout the industry. However, this decline was more than offset by increasing line counts in our Competitive Local Exchange Carrier segment. One of our strategies this year is to work to serve more of our CLEC customers on our own network facilities, enabling us to better control quality of service and improve margins in this segment."
"Results in our Systems Integration segment reflect another challenging quarter. However, we have implemented a plan to move this segment forward and improve results," Morozzi said. "Specifically, we have organized sales, operations and financial planning under one vice president to improve focus, accountability and decision-making. The team is focused on providing solutions for our business customers, concentrating on the opportunities provided by VoIP and our new Managed Services, which include monitoring the performance and reliability of a company's Internet access, e-mail system and website."
Summary Statistics
| March 2005 | March 2004 | Change | %Change | |
| RLEC lines | 138,494 | 142,118 | (3,624) | (2.5%) |
| CLEC lines | 39,514 | 35,578 | 3,936 | 11.1% |
| DSL Subscribers | 13,247 | 8,030 | 5,217 | 65.0% |
| Dial-up Internet subscribers | 10,716 | 12,790 | (2,074) | (16.2%) |
| Web hosting customers | 929 | 849 | 80 | 9.4% |
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