It’s earnings season, and Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX: RCI.B)(NYSE: RCI), one of Canada’s largest communications and media companies, just released its third-quarter results. How did the company fare? Let’s take a look.
Third-quarter earnings report
The numbers look good overall. Rogers added the highest number of contract subscribers to its wireless service in eight years for a total of 129,000 new mobile customers. Overall, revenue increased 3% compared to the same quarter in 2016, boosted by wireless revenue growth of 7%. Net income increased by 112%. This number is quite high due to a higher adjusted profit this year and the comparison to previous-year losses. Last year, Rogers was hit with the wind-down of its Shomi streaming services in the third quarter. The company also reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.02 compared to $0.83 in Q3 2016.
The company plans to invest some of its profits to increase the quality of its networks. This is good, because Rogers’s download speeds lag behind BCE Inc. and Telus Corporation when looking at LTE networks. Rogers has stated it plans to focus most of its growth and investment in its core business areas.
Is Rogers a good buy right now?
Rogers has rebounded from last year’s troubles, and all its key numbers are headed in the right direction at the moment. The stock’s trailing P/E ratio is rather high at 33.48, but the same can be said of a lot of stocks right now. Rogers is trading much closer to its 52-week high of $67.99 than its 52-week low of $50.15 right now, so the stock isn’t a bargain. However, it offers a decent dividend yield of 2.91%, and its numbers look solid. Besides good revenue and profit numbers, Rogers also has a healthy return-on-equity number of 17.41%, so the company is good at taking investor dollars and turning them into profit.
If you are looking for a large and solid communications company for your Foolish portfolio, Rogers Communications Inc. deserves your consideration.
