OKLAHOMA CITY, Oct. 8, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Dobson Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:DCEL), based upon a preliminary review of third quarter 2003 results, is affirming its EBITDA guidance for the second half of 2003 and disclosing new EBITDA expectation ranges for 2004.
The Company expects to report EBITDA for the second half of the year in line with the guidance that it provided for Dobson and American Cellular Corporation on its second quarter conference call on August 6, 2003. EBITDA is defined as income (loss) from continuing operations before interest income, interest expense, gain (loss) from extinguishment of debt, income taxes, depreciation, amortization, impairment of goodwill, other income and minority interests.
Dobson acquired American Cellular on August 19, 2003 and certain Alaska properties on June 17, 2003. Consequently, its outlook for 2004 EBITDA consolidates Dobson (including all Alaska properties) and American Cellular results for the entire year.
For 2004, Dobson expects to report consolidated EBITDA in a range of $480 million to $515 million.(1)
With the accelerated overlay of GSM/GPRS technology on its networks, Dobson expects consolidated capital expenditures in the second half of 2003 to be in a range of $140 million to $170 million. For 2004, the Company expects that consolidated capital expenditures will be in a range of $90 million to $120 million, including both the Dobson and American Cellular networks. This would include completing the GSM/GPRS overlay at mid-year.
(1) Reconciliation of EBITDA to GAAP results: For 2004, the Company expects to report consolidated depreciation and amortization expense in a range of $195 million to $205 million; interest expense of approximately $220 million; income tax expense of approximately $21 million to $38 million; which would result in consolidated income from continuing operations in a range of $35 million to $60 million.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's plans, intentions and expectations, including guidance with respect to Dobson's operating outlook. These statements are based on Dobson's current expectations and assumptions, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, including reduced sales due to a negative economic environment, which would impact consumer demand, or due to a lack of handset availability; lower rates of gross subscriber additions due to competition or due to a failure to realize anticipated gains from sales and marketing programs, which would reduce net subscriber additions; increased churn due to increased competition or the implementation of Local Number Portability; decreases in average revenue per user (ARPU) due to a shift in sales mix toward low-ARPU calling plans, a shift to sales of very large bucket calling plans at low rates, or due to other increases in competition; lower rates of growth or a decline in roaming minutes of use, which would decrease roaming revenue; lower rates of growth or a decline in EBITDA due to higher-than-expected operating expenses, such as increased marketing and selling expense as a result of a higher rate of gross subscriber additions, or such as higher-than-expected incollect roaming costs; increased capital expenditures due to unforeseen problems with the GSM/GPRS overlay or as a result from stronger-than-expected increases in home or roaming minutes of use, which would require significant network expansion. Should any of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in any of the projections or forward-looking statements.
A more extensive discussion of the risk factors that could impact these areas and the Company's overall business and financial performance can be found in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Given these concerns, investors and analysts should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.