Brenda O’Farrell
Investing.com – Shares of Rogers Communications Inc (TSX:RCIa) were on the rise on Wednesday, gaining 3.9% in trading by early afternoon. The upward momentum comes as the telecommunications giant reported fourth-quarter earnings before the opening bell that fell short of analysts’ expectations.
Rogers reported $3.95 billion in revenues during the three-month period that ended Dec. 31, 2019, down from the $3.94 billion reported in the same period the previous year.
Net income for the quarter was pegged at $468 million, down 7% from the $502 million posted in the same quarter the previous year.
The Toronto-based company, one of Canada’s major wireless carriers, underlined the success of its new data plan packages introduced last year. About 1.4 million subscribers signed up for the unlimited plans, more than double what the company expected. It also triggered other wireless carriers to follow suit, signalling increased competition in the space.
Last week, Rogers announced the launch of its 5G network infrastructure plan. And today, stated it would be investing $3 billion to build infrastructure across Canada.
"Our fourth quarter results reflected healthy wireless postpaid and Internet customer additions, and strong demand for Rogers Infinite data plans, which grew 40% sequentially to 1.4 million subscribers," said president and CEO Joe Natale, "We were the first to start deploying 5G technology in Canada, and 2020 will see the early stages of our multi-year, multibillion dollar 5G rollout plan.
At 1:30 p.m. Eastern, shares of Rogers were trading at $68, up from yesterday’s close of $65.45.