Summary
Charter Communications, Inc. (CHTR) has announced significant changes to its historical customer data and financial reporting methodologies, effective for its second quarter 2018 reporting and applied retrospectively. These adjustments are designed to provide a more consistent and comparable view of customer metrics across its legacy TWC and Bright House operations, aligning them with Charter's own reporting standards. While the company emphasizes that total revenue, Adjusted EBITDA, capital expenditures, free cash flow, and net income remain unchanged, investors should be aware of the reclassifications impacting how customer segments and certain revenue/expense items are presented. The primary changes involve reclassifying university customers, adjusting how small and medium business (SMB) and enterprise accounts are counted, and reclassifying fiber video services. These adjustments aim to offer a clearer picture of the company's operational performance and customer base going forward.
Key Highlights
- 1Charter is implementing revised customer data and reporting methodologies retrospectively, affecting historical data for 2016, 2017, and Q1 2018.
- 2The changes aim to provide consistent reporting across legacy TWC, Bright House, and Charter operations.
- 3Key customer reclassifications include moving universities from residential to SMB accounts, and reporting SMB/enterprise sites based on physical locations rather than billing relationships.
- 4Fiber video service is being reclassified from SMB to enterprise within the reporting.
- 5Revenue line items and certain expenses have been recast to align with the new customer reporting, but this did not impact total revenue, Adjusted EBITDA, CapEx, Free Cash Flow, or Net Income.
- 6A revised trending schedule reflecting these changes is available on Charter's investor relations website.
- 7Beginning with Q2 2018 reporting, Charter will officially use the revised methodology.