Charter on verge of Bankruptcy?

[Tom Bombadil]

: Moody's downgrades Charter, says bankruptcy likely in 2009

Moody's Investors Service lowered its credit rating on Charter Communications Inc. by two notches Friday after the company said it will hold discussions with bondholders in order to shore up its finances.

The ratings agency said it believes a default is imminent and bankruptcy is likely for Charter in 2009. Any bankruptcy almost certainly would be reorganizational, rather than a liquidation, which means customers wouldn't necessarily see an immediate change in service.

St. Louis-based Charter, which is the dominant subscription TV provider in the Madison area, is struggling with a debt load of more than $20 billion. It warned earlier this year it may need to file for bankruptcy protection if it failed to raise additional funds to finance its cash needs by 2010.

"We believe engaging in discussions with our bondholders, aimed at improving our capital structure and enhancing our financial flexibility, is in the company's and our customers' best interests," Charter CEO Neil Smit said in a news release.

Moody's cut its rating on Charter to "Ca" from "Caa2." Both are non-investment grade ratings.

"Charter's ratings have long reflected a high probability of default and a fundamental mismatch between the company's liability structure and its business model," Russell Solomon, Moody's senior vice president, said in a statement.

Charter, which is controlled by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen, reported interest costs of $478 million for the third quarter compared with operating income of $208 million.

It is the fourth largest cable company in the U.S. after Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc. and Cox Communications.

Charter's shares closed down 2 cents on Friday to 13 cents.

 

[dodge]

That would be a shame IF charter went belly up. They are the only cable co I have ever seen on analog that did not have some snow on every channel. It seems like if you watch a football game on comcast or mediacom up here everygame has a snowstorm or flurries.

 

[bigfame]

if they did go belly up what would happen? Would comcast or Time warner swoop in and take over their customers?

 

[Tom Bombadil]

The news on Charter gets worse ...

Stock is down to 9 cents a share. Market analysts are saying it will go to 5 cents. Debt has ballooned to $20B!!!

And now they have the worst overall customer satisfaction ratings out of 114 companies in a recent survey.

business: Struggling Charter takes more hits in customer experience

 

[stogie5150]

For what they charge for what we get, I am surprised they are still in business, if everywhere is like here. I pay 60.00 a month just for 5meg internet. Most people have told me in other areas that they get a break if they get cable tv too..not here...I think they knock off 5.00/ month if you take TV too...and a decent package is 57.00/month ADDED to the internet....are they kidding me?

Only thing I am afraid of is WHO will take their place down here....

 

[riffjim4069]

I wonder if Verizon would be interested in scooping them up (assuming it were right priced)? Offhand, I have no idea how many Charter areas are in Verizon territory, what new markets this would create, or if any of the infrustructures could be used for their FiOS network, etc.

 

[JonUrban]

PLEASE! Go bankrupt! I hate them. Although I have Dish, I also have cable, mostly for internet service, but I also have their "expanded" service as a backup. Their poor cable package and price, low amount of HD, and horrible service are loathed around my neighborhood. I would love for someone to buy them, be it Comcast, TW, Cox, anyone.

They clearly suck around these parts.

 

[jself1982]

I wouldn't miss Charter! I despise them.

 

[bigfame]

Call me crazy, but I have all their services (5 meg internet, 2 HD DVR's, all channels, and phone service) and have never had any problems. ondemand always works, internet goes out maybe once every 2 or 3 months, and I get everything for $165.00 a month which $25.00 more a month than I pay for just Dish. True they dont have many HD channels (32 here) but everything else is great. Ive heard good things about TWC's DVR software so that would be cool to have (and they have more HD) but as suggested above I would love fios or uverse if it ever came here.

 

[AekaGSR]

I'm paying 57 dollars a month for 5mb internet. As soon as ATT offers U-verse internet only, I'm getting out. 57 dollars is a damn joke for their slowest tire. I jumped ship on their crappy TV service and I'm waiting, just waiting to have some other option in my area for internet. I was so glad when I moved to Dish. nearly 20 years of Charter service ate my soul.

 

[bigfame]

I too have Dish, and I guess it comes down to what you really like. Im fine with the SD channels as I dont watch HD much at all but prefer the ondemand access to the HD. Having all those shows/movies with instant access more than takes up for the lack of HD channels. Again this is just my personal preference and do see how people wouldnt like Charter if it was unreliable in their area etc.

 

[riffjim4069]

internet goes out maybe once every 2 or 3 months

This is unacceptable IMO. We had Comcast (only broadband provider in the subdivision) for more than 7-years and had a service outage, without failing, every 2 or 3 months...really sucks when you have VOIP. Anyway, our FiOS TV, phone and Internet has been 24x7 since it was installed 9 months ago.

 

[bigfame]

This is unacceptable IMO. We had Comcast (only broadband provider in the subdivision) for more than 7-years and had a service outage, without failing, every 2 or 3 months...really sucks when you have VOIP. Anyway, our FiOS TV, phone and Internet has been 24x7 since it was installed 9 months ago.

I agree with you, however when it goes out its only for about 10-15 minutes. When I first moved here to GA in 2003 the internet would literally go out daily for anywhere from 20mins to 3 hours. We had to get DSL. Since they stepped up their service in my area its been much better. Believe me, if Fios or Uverse was available here I would get it in a heart beat.

 

[ladybug59]

Charter Communications Employee

Charter Communications is no different than any other cable provider. I work for Charter and have Comcast and pay close to $200.00 per month on a promotion. I will say however that Charter messes with their employees big time and they actually take money from us in order to save face. They are in trouble and their is no doubt about it however they will rebound if they become more reasonable with their prices. We service only rural areas where income is a definite issue. Suggestion for better prices, call and tell the rep that you need a new promotion or you'll cancel your service. If it doesn't work on that rep call again.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Associated Press — 1/29/2009 10:12 am

How do you lose $7 billion?

That's a question for Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen, who has seen his massive investment in cable TV operator Charter Communications Inc. all but vanish.

Charter was Allen's biggest investment after he left Microsoft in 1983. He is Charter's chairman and holds a 51 percent stake in the company, which is the nation's fourth-largest cable operator and the dominant subscription TV provider in the Madison area, with 5.5 million customers in 27 states.

But the stock is now 8 cents per share, down from an all-time high of $27.75 reached a few days after its initial public offering in 1999. The St. Louis-based cable company is facing bankruptcy, analysts said.

Allen wouldn't comment, and neither would Charter, other than a statement from Chief Executive Neil Smit, who said the company is continuing to negotiate with its bondholders. Analysts said Charter is likely to try rolling over its debt into new loans payable later, or swapping its debt for equity in the company.

Charter has been skirting insolvency for years, but this time it faces a brutal combination of tight credit and billions of debt coming due.

The company missed a debt payment this month, and about $1.9 billion of debt comes due next year. Overall, more than half of Charter's $21 billion in total borrowings will mature by 2013.

Tuna Amobi, an analyst with Standard & Poor's, doesn't think it likely that Allen will pump in more money. And selling off assets would be tough, because Charter is unlikely to get a good price in this down market. Charter itself acknowledged in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that if it can't refinance its debt, it could be forced to seek bankruptcy protection.

Allen, 56, who started Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975, once ranked as the world's third-richest person, with a $30 billion fortune in 1999, according to Forbes magazine. But he has had a mixed record as an investor, which is reflected in his decline on the Forbes rich list. Last year Allen was No. 41, with an estimated $16 billion in holdings.

Allen has plowed his money into such diverse targets as DreamWorks SKG, the Seattle Seahawks and the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame. He had success with USA Networks and CNET, and failures with Priceline, Egghead.com and online retailer Value America. But Charter may be his biggest disappointment.

Allen's vision for his cable holdings began with high hopes. In the spring of 1998, he bought Marcus Cable Co. for $2.8 billion, and a month later he paid $4.5 billion for Charter, which would eventually acquire Marcus.

At the time, he said: "For over 20 years, I have been talking about and investing in the `wired world,' a connected future marked by the merger of high-bandwidth data channels, the power of the personal computer, and the availability of compelling content."

"I will finally have some wires for my wired world," he later added.

But Charter has never made a profit since at least 1999, when it went public. Its earnings were wiped out by large interest payments on the debts it incurred largely in the acquisitions it used to expand.

It's had other missteps. In 2004 and 2005, four former executives pleaded guilty to scheming to inflate revenue, cash flow and subscriber rolls. The company settled ensuing shareholder lawsuits for $144 million in cash and stock.

In 2005, Charter's CEO, Carl Vogel, resigned in the wake of big losses. He returned to Dish Network Corp., the satellite TV provider he co-founded and now serves as vice chairman.

To deal with all its borrowings, Charter developed an unusual "wedding cake" structure, with layers of holding companies that each took on debt at varying interest rates to keep Charter itself liquid. Otherwise, the company would have defaulted on loans years ago, said Russ Solomon, an analyst with Moody's Investors Service.

Still, Charter's purse strings remained relatively tight. As other big cable operators were investing in ways to offer high-speed Internet, phone service and high-definition TV -- enabling a "triple play" package that makes consumers more likely to stick -- Charter at first fell behind.

Recently, Charter showed signs of recovery, once it got its own triple play going. In the third quarter, customers signed up for 205,400 new lines of service, up 50 percent from a year earlier. Subscribers on average paid $106 per month, up 11 percent from the previous year.

And Charter nearly doubled its operating income in the quarter, to $208 million.

But it was wiped out by $478 million of interest expenses on its debt.

The financial crisis and the resulting credit crunch made matters worse. The company couldn't count on the same ease in refinancing as it enjoyed in prior years.

On Jan. 15, Charter announced that two subsidiaries missed $73.7 million in interest payments. The payments have a 30-day grace period.

Now, Solomon believes that since Charter has several groups of creditors with which to negotiate, the company might have little choice but to do it through bankruptcy court. Charter is likely to file a "pre-emptive restructuring," line up agreements with bondholders, enter Chapter 11 and emerge quickly, Solomon said.

Some of Allen's dreams for the cable business were shared by Gates. Microsoft invested $1 billion in Comcast Corp. in 1997, which went on to become the nation's biggest cable company. Five years later, Microsoft got even more Comcast stock in exchange for its $5 billion stake in AT&T Broadband, which Comcast bought.

But cable seems to have lost its allure for Gates -- Microsoft recently liquidated all of its shares in Comcast. Now it might well be the same for Allen.