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Broadband growth and the closing of the Alaska Wireless Network led to strong third quarter results for Alaska Communications System Group Inc., and the company continued to pay down its debt.
The company's net income for the third quarter was $77.6 million driven largely by the money it received in the deal with General Communication Inc..
Alaska Communications and GCI closed on the Alaska Wireless Network in July, which created a shared infrastructure for the two companies although they will maintain separate retail operations. Alaska Communications owns one-third of the network and GCI the remainder, with former GCI Chief Operating Officer Wilson Hughes taking over as CEO of the new company.
Alaska Communications received about $132 million for contributing its assets to the new network, $8.1 million in earnings on the equity it contributed, and $2.9 million in preferential distributions, said Chief Financial Officer Wayne Graham during a Nov. 6 investor call.
The preferential distributions are part of the terms of the AWN transaction, which gives ACS more than its one-third share of the network's proceeds initially.
The company also continued its debt reduction in the third quarter, paying $96 million in cash and repurchasing $6 million of convertible notes with common stock, Graham said. The company did take a $2 million loss for extinguishing debt.
So far in 2013, the company has paid...