SaskTel 2007 results increase by $84.1 Million

SaskTel’s 2007 financial results bolted with by a net income of $84.1 million (increased from about $12 million from the year before) and operating revenues exceeding $1 billion for the second consecutive year.

“SaskTel’s century-long legacy of delivering solid financial results is a testament to a company with a long-term commitment of providing world-class products and services to its customers and the communities its serves,” said Ken Cheveldayoff, Minister of Crown Corporations. “SaskTel leads the way in Canada in bringing digital cellular and high speed internet service to rural areas. As of the end of 2007, more than 95% of Saskatchewan’s population had access to digital cellular service and over 85% had access to high speed internet.”

“SaskTel will face many challenges as we move into our second century and we’ve identified three key areas that need to be addressed going forward – productivity, strategies for growth and industry transformation,” said Robert Watson, SaskTel President and CEO. “With a truly convergent industry, competition will continue to increase and traditional revenues will decline further. Ensuring our future viability will be a matter of developing strategies to capture new growth revenues while retaining our existing revenue base and improving our overall productivity. We are confident that with the hard work, creativity and intelligence of our employees, management and Board of Directors, SaskTel will thrive well beyond our Centennial.”

Financial and operating highlights for SaskTel in 2007 include:

• Net Income of $84.1 million, up $11.6 million from 2006.
• SaskTel reached $1,067.4 million in revenues in 2007, an increase of $57.8 million over 2006.
• Wireless revenues increased significantly to $301.3 million in 2007, an increase of 15.8% over 2006. Total wireless accesses increased by 49,542 for a total of 452,218. The average revenue per cellular subscriber increased to $57.90, up $2.40 from 2006. SaskTel invested $27 million to enhance and expand the wireless network including 26 new cellular sites. As well as improving coverage, SaskTel was the first company in Canada to launch Voice Mail to Text service.
• SaskTel now reaches over 85% of the population with its high speed internet service.
• Capital expenditures were $172.2 million in 2007, down $55.8 million from 2006. Since 1987, SaskTel has invested over $3.1 billion in infrastructure in Saskatchewan.
• At the end of 2007, our Saskatchewan dealer network included more than 130 dealer locations and paid over $29 million in commissions to our wireless, high speed, and Max dealers.
• SaskTel also purchased goods and service from more than 4,600 Saskatchewan suppliers contributing $369 million to the Saskatchewan economy.
• In 2007, we received a number of employer awards being recognized as:
• one of “Canada’s Top 100 Employers” by MediaCorp Canada Inc. for eighth consecutive year, SaskTel was recognized as one of “Canada’s Top 100 Employers” by MediaCorp Canada Inc.

Here is the official Press Release.