Alaska Communications Systems Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2012 Results

Alaska Communications Systems Group, Inc. (“ACS”) (NASDAQ:ALSK) today reported financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2012.

“We are pleased with our performance this year. We generated strong growth in business and wholesale revenues. Ending the year at the high end of guidance for free cash flow, with our debt balances declining for the first time in three years, is also an indication of our progress.

“Looking ahead, we expect continued top line growth in the business and wholesale segment, solid free cash flow performance and significant deleveraging with the successful closing of the Alaska Wireless Network (“AWN”) transaction. Our investments in sales and service, product and network, and process improvements provide the platform for future growth. The AWN transaction is a defining transaction for Alaska Communications as it de-risks our wireless business, provides a predictable path for further deleveraging and builds shareholder value over time. These are all elements of our business plan in action, giving us confidence in our future.

“Growing demand for our core broadband product, the trust our customers have in the reliability of our products and network and the local service provided by our employees will drive our continued performance to our business plan,” said Anand Vadapalli, president and CEO of Alaska Communications.

Financial Highlights: Fourth Quarter 2012 Compared to Fourth Quarter 2011

• Revenues of $95.1 million increased by $7.6 million, or 8.7%, from $87.5 million in the prior year.
  • Business and wholesale revenue increased by $3.7 million, or 14.0%. We benefited from a non-recurring equipment sale in the fourth quarter 2012 of $1.4 million.
  • Consumer revenue increased by $0.3 million, or 2.8%.
  • Wireless revenue increased by $4.9 million, or 16.2%.
  • Access and CETC revenue declined, as expected by $1.3 million, or 5.9%.
  • Broadband revenue as a percentage of total service revenue was 47%, compared to 42% in the prior year.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $33.3 million increased by $2.5 million, or 8.2%, from $30.8 million in the prior year.
  • Cost of services and sales increased by $1.9 million, or 5.6%, which was impacted by a non-recurring equipment sale and a $0.5 increase in wireless equipment and device costs.
  • Selling, general & administrative, excluding AWN transaction related costs of $1.1 million compared to $0.5 million in the prior year, increased by $2.8 million, or 12.1%, resulting primarily from increased sales and customer service costs.

Metric Highlights: Fourth Quarter 2012 Compared to Third Quarter 2012

• Wireless subscribers decreased by 5,958 to 115,017. We conducted a recertification of all of our Lifeline customers to verify that they continue to meet the FCC’s recently revised eligibility criteria. Because of that effort, our wireless Lifeline enrollment decreased by 3,115 connections or 24.5% of our lifeline customer base. We were also impacted by the delay in availability of the iPhone 5 relative to our competition.
• Wireless average monthly retail service revenue per subscriber (“ARPU”) increased by 2.3% to $52.96.
• Business broadband connections increased to 19,202 from 19,063 and business broadband ARPU increased to $153.59 from $150.58.
• Consumer broadband connections increased to 38,760 from 38,491 and consumer broadband ARPU increased to $42.53 from $39.90.
• Consumer access lines declined to 55,823 from 57,483.
• Business access lines decreased to 80,852 from 81,330.

“Alaska Communications continues to target free cash flow for debt reduction, with debt net of cash and short term investments at $536.5 million and our leverage ratio for the twelve months ended December 31, 2012 at 4.4x. Because our operating results in 2013 will be impacted by the timing of the AWN transaction, we are delaying providing full year 2013 guidance until we have established a firm closing date. The AWN transaction will result in approximately $65.0 million of debt pay downs at closing, and our Adjusted EBITDA following close will reflect the preferred distribution that we expect to generate from AWN,” said Wayne Graham, Alaska Communications chief financial officer.

Conference Call

The company will host a conference call and live webcast today at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time to discuss the results. Parties in the United States and Canada can access the call at 1-800-762-8779. Parties outside the United States and Canada can access the call at 1-480-629-9645. The live webcast of the conference call will be accessible from the “Events Calendar” section of the company's website (www.alsk.com). The webcast will be archived for a period of 90 days. A telephonic replay of the conference call will also be available two hours after the call and will run until Thursday, March 7, 2013, at midnight Eastern time. To hear the replay, parties in the United States and Canada can call 1-800-406-7325 and enter pass code 4593495. Parties outside the United States and Canada can call 1-303-590-3030 and enter pass code 4593495.

About Alaska Communications

Headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska Communications Systems Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALSK) is a leading provider of high-speed wireless, mobile broadband, Internet, local, long-distance and advanced broadband solutions for businesses and consumers in Alaska. The Alaska Communications network includes the most advanced wireline and wireless broadband and voice networks and the most diverse undersea fiber optic system connecting Alaska to the contiguous United States. For more information, visit www.alaskacommunications.com or www.alsk.com.

Non-GAAP Measures

Adjusted EBITDA, as defined by the Company, may not be similar to Adjusted EBITDA measures used by other companies and is not a measurement under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Management believes that Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to investors about the Company's performance because it eliminates the effects of period-to-period changes in costs associated with capital investments, interest, stock-based compensation expense and AWN transaction costs that are not directly attributable to the underlying performance of the Company's operations. Management believes the most directly comparable GAAP measure would be Net cash provided by operating activities.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain “forward-looking statements,” as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events made using information currently available to management. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside ACS' control. Such factors include, without limitation, Verizon’s entry into the Alaska market, Universal Service Fund reforms, our ability to consummate the AWN transaction and AWN’s subsequent financial and operational performance, the outcome of on-going IRS audits, adverse national economic conditions, adverse conditions in the credit markets impacting the cost, including interest rates, and/or availability of financing, adverse local economic conditions, including an unexpected downturn in the Alaskan oil and gas or tourism markets, changes in capital expenditures, the effects of competition in our markets, the entry of one or more additional facilities-based carriers into the Alaska market; the Company’s ability to complete, manage, integrate, market, maintain, and attract sufficient customers to the products and services it may derive, adverse changes in labor matters, including workforce levels, labor negotiations, and benefits costs; disruption of our suppliers' provisioning of critical products or services; the impact of natural or man-made disasters; changes in Company's relationships with large carrier or enterprise customers or its roaming partners; changes in revenue from universal service funds; unforeseen changes in public policies; changes in accounting policies, including the Company’s application of regulatory accounting rules, which could result in an impact on earnings; or disruptive technological developments in the telecommunications industry. For further information regarding risks and uncertainties associated with ACS' business, please refer to the Company's SEC filings, including, but not limited to, the sections entitled “Risk Factors” and “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Copies of the Company's SEC filings may be obtained by contacting its investor relations department at (907) 564-7556 or by visiting its investor relations website at www.alsk.com.

Note: In an effort to provide investors with additional information regarding the Company's results as determined by GAAP, the Company also discloses certain non-GAAP information which management utilizes to assess performance and believes provides useful information to investors. The Company has disclosed Adjusted EBITDA as net income before interest, provisions for taxes, depreciation expense, gain or loss on asset purchases or disposals, gift of services, earnings of equity investments in excess of or less than cash distributions, AWN Transaction related costs, amortization of intangibles and stock-based compensation expense, and including return of capital from equity investment, and Adjusted EBITDA Margin, defined as Adjusted EBITDA divided by Operating Revenues. Additionally, the Company has disclosed Free cash flow as Adjusted EBITDA, less capital expenditures that create an obligation to pay (“Incurred capital expenditures”) less cash interest expense, less non recurring capital items we have incurred to preliminarily establish infrastructure with AWN (“AWN non recurring capital expenditures”). These measures are provided because the Company believes they are important indicators regarding our ability to make principle payments on debt and fund working capital. Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin and Free cash flow are not GAAP measures and should not be considered a substitute for net cash provided by operating activities and other measures of financial performance recorded in accordance with GAAP.