Knology moves to 3Q loss despite customer gains

For the three months ended Sept. 30, the company posted a loss of $2.8 million or 8 cents per share, compared with net income of $1.8 million, or 5 cents per share, for the third quarter of 2007.

The year-ago quarter included $8.5 million in profit from its Prairie wave directory business, which was sold in September 2007. Excluding that gain, the year-ago loss totaled 19 cents per share.

Revenue rose 12 percent to $103.2 million from $92.3 million in the prior-year period.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, expected a loss of 5 cents per share, on revenue of $103.1 million.

The company, which provides digital cable television, digital telephone service and high-speed Internet access, added nearly 4,900 connections during the third quarter, and boasted about 670,900 customers total, up 5 percent from a year ago.

The company said the average monthly revenue per connection was $51.51, compared to $48.87 for the third quarter of 2007. Average "churn," or the percentage of customers leaving each month, was 2.8 percent in the 2008 quarter, the same rate as a year ago.

Knology shares fell 28 cents, or 5.4 percent, to $4.87.