Rogers Communications Inc.

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the Rogers Communications, Inc. first quarter 2022 results conference call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode and the conference is being recorded. Following the presentation, we'll conduct a question and answer session. To join the question queue, you may press star then 1 on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, You may signal an operator by pressing star and zero. I would now like to turn the conference over to Paul Carpino, Vice President of Investor Relations with Rogers Communications. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Ariel. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I'm here with our President and Chief Executive Officer, Tony Staffieri, our Chief Financial Officer, Glenn Brandt, and George Fernandez, Chief Technology and Information Officer. Today's discussion will include estimates and other forward-looking information from which our actual results could differ. Please review the cautionary language in today's earnings report and in our 2021 annual report regarding the various factors, assumptions, and risks that could cause our actual results to differ. With that, let me turn it over to Tony to begin.

Thank you, Paul, and good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us on this very busy day as we highlight our strong Q1 results. update our positive 2022 outlook, and hold our AGM virtually later this morning. As I discussed back in January, the Rogers organization is focused on three priorities. Better execution across our businesses, increasing our investments in our networks and customer service, and continuing our extensive efforts to successfully complete the SHA transaction in the first half of 2022. I'm pleased to say we made progress in each of these areas in the first quarter. So let me provide some comments on each of the items before I turn the call over to Glenn to provide you with more detail on the quarter. Starting with better execution, each of our businesses delivered better revenue and profitability than expected. Across the organization, our teams are focused on targeting or accelerating all efficiencies and process improvement opportunities to deliver results that will meet or even exceed the targets we've set for ourselves. We're making progress with these efforts and have already started to capture some of those benefits this quarter. Our wireless service revenue increased by 7% this quarter as the economy continues to grow. Supporting this growth was significant improvements in quality smartphone loading, strong churn performance, and continued growth in ARPU. Post-paid mobile phone net ads were 66,000, more than triple the volume from last year. Q1 post-paid mobile phone churn improved by 12 basis points to an impressive 0.71%. And finally, mobile phone ARPU was a solid $57.25, up 3% from one year ago, reflecting continued improvements in roaming revenue. In CABLE, we continue to make progress in improving our execution and delivering better performance. Revenue was up 2% and adjusted EBITDA up 13%. CABLE adjusted EBITDA increased year on year, primarily as a result of our focus on operating and process efficiency improvements at Rogers ahead of our Shaw close. While financials are improving nicely here, we still need to deliver better results on top line growth and subscriber additions. But we know what we need to do, and the team is doing a terrific job on this journey. Finally, in media, we continue to show steady improvements coming out of the pandemic. Revenue grew 10%, primarily as a result of higher sports-related advertising, and we're targeting positive adjusted EBITDA this year with a return of in-stadium revenues for the Blue Jays at our Rogers Center. In Q1, we continue to make the bold investments needed to ensure that we not only lead in Canada, but to continue to have amongst the best networks in the world. In the first quarter alone, we invested 34% more than we did last year. And this year, we will spend close to $3 billion in infrastructure investment in this country. In wireless, we are leading in 5G coverage and performance. And as this technology brings new solutions for consumers and businesses, we will be ready to offer the world-class network that Canadians need and can rely upon. And in our cable business, we'll continue to lead on having the best internet and TV experience, period. As you saw yesterday, we announced a major milestone in our 10G initiative, where we successfully tested 8 gigabits symmetrical upload and download speeds on our fiber-powered networks. Impressive by any standard, this technology will become available to customers in the not too distant future. Despite this increased investment, our cash flow was strong. We generated cash flow from operating activities of more than $800 million, up 20%, largely as a result of higher adjusted EBITDA. Overall, our team's renewed focus on execution and performance is starting to deliver results. and puts us in a strong operational and financial position as we come together with Shaw. Given our confidence in our assets and our execution, we have increased our financial guidance for this year prior to any growth associated with the Shaw transaction. As we continue to build momentum, we see further opportunity for industry-leading revenue, profitability, and cash flow growth in 2022 and beyond. These improving fundamentals underpin the opportunities we see ahead to drive innovation and competition with the Shaw business and leverage the quality of these two iconic companies. On that front, we continue to make good progress towards closing the Shaw transaction. We received approval of the CRTC in March. We have obtained all of the funds necessary for the deal following a record-setting series of debt offerings in the last few months. and we continue to make solid progress on our integration planning. This transaction remains subject to the approvals of two important government bodies, ISED and the Competition Bureau, and as we have highlighted since announcing the transaction 13 months ago, both the Rogers and Shaw teams believe the strength of this transaction is compelling for all stakeholders, especially Canadians. As we move forward, our Shaw acquisition will truly allow Rogers to accelerate innovation and drive competition nationally. Importantly, together with Shaw, we will have the necessary scale to meaningfully bridge the digital divide and do what neither of us could do on our own. 2022 is going to be an exciting year for Rogers. I want to thank the entire Rogers team who have re-energized this organization by working together to not only drive better execution and improve our financial performance, but to prepare us for the years ahead. Their entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to our customers will enable Rogers to reach its full potential, and I am grateful for their positive attitude and unified efforts as we strive to achieve our goals as an organization. Let me now turn the call over to Glenn, who will provide a few more details on the quarter.