EX-99.1 2 usmq120228kex991.htm EX-99.1 Document

Exhibit 99.1   NEWS RELEASE
usmnewsrelease.jpg

As previously announced, UScellular will hold a teleconference on May 6, 2022, at 9:00 a.m. CDT. Listen to the call live via the Events & Presentations page of investors.uscellular.com.
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UScellular reports first quarter 2022 results
2022 guidance reaffirmed


CHICAGO (May 5, 2022) — United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM) reported total operating revenues of $1,010 million for the first quarter of 2022, versus $1,023 million for the same period one year ago. Service revenues totaled $787 million, versus $771 million for the same period a year ago. Net income attributable to UScellular shareholders and related diluted earnings per share were $49 million and $0.57, respectively, for the first quarter of 2022 compared to $60 million and $0.69, respectively, in the same period one year ago.
"UScellular’s first quarter results showed growth in retail service revenue, driven by the positive impact of ARPU," said Laurent Therivel, UScellular President and CEO. "We continue to focus on our growth areas of the business, which include prepaid, business and government, and fixed wireless. Fixed wireless gross additions increased year-over-year, and momentum continues to build in our tower business, which produced double-digit revenue growth for the first quarter.

"I continue to be impressed with the hard work and dedication of our associates, and I'd like to thank all of them for their contributions this quarter."
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2022 Estimated Results
UScellular’s current estimates of full-year 2022 results are shown below. Such estimates represent management’s view as of May 5, 2022 and should not be assumed to be current as of any future date. UScellular undertakes no duty to update such estimates, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. There can be no assurance that final results will not differ materially from estimated results.
 2022 Estimated Results
 PreviousCurrent
(Dollars in millions)  
Service revenues$3,100-$3,200Unchanged
Adjusted OIBDA1
$750-$900Unchanged
Adjusted EBITDA1
$925-$1,075Unchanged
Capital expenditures$700-$800Unchanged

The following table reconciles EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted OIBDA to the corresponding GAAP measures, Net income or Income before income taxes. In providing 2022 estimated results, UScellular has not completed the below reconciliation to Net income because it does not provide guidance for income taxes. Although potentially significant, UScellular believes that the impact of income taxes cannot be reasonably predicted; therefore, UScellular is unable to provide such guidance.
  Actual Results
 2022 Estimated Results Three Months Ended
March 31, 2022
Year Ended
December 31, 2021
(Dollars in millions)   
Net income (GAAP)N/A$52 $160 
Add back:   
Income tax expenseN/A32 20 
Income before income taxes (GAAP)$65-$215$84 $180 
Add back:   
Interest expense135 33 175 
Depreciation, amortization and accretion expense710 171 678 
EBITDA (Non-GAAP)1
$910-$1,060$288 $1,033 
Add back or deduct:   
(Gain) loss on asset disposals, net15 2 23 
(Gain) loss on sale of business and other exit costs, net— (1)(2)
Adjusted EBITDA (Non-GAAP)1
$925-$1,075$289 $1,054 
Deduct:   
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated entities170 45 179 
Interest and dividend income1 
Adjusted OIBDA (Non-GAAP)1
$750-$900$243 $869 
1EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted OIBDA are defined as net income adjusted for the items set forth in the reconciliation above. EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted OIBDA are not measures of financial performance under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States (GAAP) and should not be considered as alternatives to Net income or Cash flows from operating activities, as indicators of cash flows or as measures of liquidity. UScellular does not intend to imply that any such items set forth in the reconciliation above are non-recurring, infrequent or unusual; such items may occur in the future. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted OIBDA as measurements of profitability, and therefore reconciliations to Net income are deemed appropriate. Management believes Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted OIBDA are useful measures of UScellular’s operating results before significant recurring non-cash charges, gains and losses, and other items as presented above as they provide additional relevant and useful information to investors and other users of UScellular’s financial data in evaluating the effectiveness of its operations and underlying business trends in a manner that is consistent with management’s evaluation of business performance. Adjusted EBITDA shows adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and accretion, and gains and losses, while Adjusted OIBDA reduces this measure further to exclude Equity in earnings of unconsolidated entities and Interest and dividend income in order to more effectively show the performance of operating activities excluding investment activities. The table above reconciles EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted OIBDA to the corresponding GAAP measure, Net income or Income before income taxes. Additional information and reconciliations related to Non-GAAP financial measures for March 31, 2022, can be found on UScellular’s website at investors.uscellular.com.
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Stock Repurchase
During the first quarter of 2022, UScellular repurchased 363,821 of its Common Shares for $10 million.
Conference Call Information
UScellular will hold a conference call on May 6, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. Central Time.
Access the live call on the Events & Presentations page of investors.uscellular.com or at
https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/3725342/CDC132CA9BF52C2B44DEED054F08A623
Access the call by phone at (888)330-2384 conference ID: 1328528.

Before the call, certain financial and statistical information to be discussed during the call will be posted to investors.uscellular.com. The call will be archived on the Events & Presentations page of investors.uscellular.com.
About UScellular
United States Cellular Corporation provides a comprehensive range of wireless products and services, excellent customer support, and a high-quality network to customers with 4.8 million retail connections in 21 states. The Chicago-based company had 4,800 full- and part-time associates as of March 31, 2022. At the end of the first quarter of 2022, Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. owned 83 percent of UScellular. For more information about UScellular, visit uscellular.com.
Contacts
Colleen Thompson, Vice President - Corporate Relations of TDS
colleen.thompson@tdsinc.com
 
Julie D. Mathews, IRC, Director - Investor Relations of TDS
julie.mathews@tdsinc.com

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: All information set forth in this news release, except historical and factual information, represents forward-looking statements. This includes all statements about the company’s plans, beliefs, estimates, and expectations. These statements are based on current estimates, projections, and assumptions, which involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that may affect these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: intense competition; the ability to attract people of outstanding talent throughout all levels of the organization; USM's smaller scale relative to larger competitors; the ability to obtain or maintain roaming arrangements with other carriers on acceptable terms; the ability to obtain access to adequate radio spectrum to meet current or anticipated future needs, including participation in FCC auctions; changes in demand, consumer preferences and perceptions, price competition, or churn rates; advances in technology; impacts of costs, integration problems or other factors associated with acquisitions, divestitures or exchanges of properties or wireless spectrum licenses and/or expansion of UScellular's businesses; the ability of the company to successfully construct and manage its networks; uncertainties in UScellular’s future cash flows and liquidity and access to the capital markets; the ability to make payments on UScellular indebtedness or comply with the terms of debt covenants; conditions in the U.S. telecommunications industry; the value of assets and investments; the state and federal regulatory environment; pending and future litigation; cyber-attacks or other breaches of network or information technology security; potential conflicts of interests between TDS and UScellular; disruption in credit or other financial markets; deterioration of U.S. or global economic conditions; the impact, duration and severity of public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Investors are encouraged to consider these and other risks and uncertainties that are more fully described under “Risk Factors” in the most recent filing of UScellular's Form 10-K, as updated by any UScellular Form 10-Q filed subsequent to such Form 10-K.
 
For more information about UScellular, visit: www.uscellular.com
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United States Cellular Corporation
Summary Operating Data (Unaudited)
As of or for the Quarter Ended3/31/202212/31/20219/30/20216/30/20213/31/2021
Retail Connections     
Postpaid     
Total at end of period4,335,000 4,380,000 4,391,000 4,399,000 4,406,000 
Gross additions126,000 165,000 145,000 141,000 143,000 
Feature phones2,000 3,000 2,000 3,000 3,000 
Smartphones89,000 122,000 103,000 98,000 101,000 
Connected devices35,000 40,000 40,000 40,000 39,000 
Net additions (losses)(44,000)(12,000)(8,000)(6,000)(6,000)
Feature phones(10,000)(7,000)(7,000)(7,000)(9,000)
Smartphones(26,000)5,000 2,000 6,000 6,000 
Connected devices(8,000)(10,000)(3,000)(5,000)(3,000)
ARPU1,2
$49.71 $48.62 $48.12 $47.74 $47.65 
ARPA1,3
$129.93 $127.14 $125.99 $125.25 $125.25 
Churn rate4
1.30 %1.35 %1.15 %1.11 %1.12 %
Handsets1.10 %1.10 %0.95 %0.88 %0.92 %
Connected devices2.70 %3.08 %2.59 %2.69 %2.53 %
Prepaid
Total at end of period495,000 513,000 518,000 507,000 496,000 
Gross additions55,000 63,000 74,000 65,000 62,000 
Net additions (losses)(18,000)(5,000)11,000 10,000 (3,000)
ARPU2
$34.59 $34.53 $35.05 $35.64 $35.25 
Churn rate4
4.84 %4.39 %4.09 %3.66 %4.37 %
Market penetration at end of period
Consolidated operating population32,370,000 32,127,000 31,865,000 31,493,000 31,493,000 
Consolidated operating penetration5
15 %15 %16 %16 %16 %
Capital expenditures (millions)$137 $321 $185 $148 $125 
Total cell sites in service6,899 6,898 6,857 6,819 6,802 
Owned towers4,310 4,301 4,274 4,278 4,270 

1Q3 2021 Postpaid ARPU and ARPA amounts exclude $9 million of postpaid revenue related to an out-of-period error recorded in that quarter.
2Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) - metric is calculated by dividing a revenue base by an average number of connections and by the number of months in the period. These revenue bases and connection populations are shown below:
Postpaid ARPU consists of total postpaid service revenues and postpaid connections.
Prepaid ARPU consists of total prepaid service revenues and prepaid connections.
3Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA) - metric is calculated by dividing total postpaid service revenues by the average number of postpaid accounts and by the number of months in the period.
4Churn rate represents the percentage of the connections that disconnect service each month. These rates represent the average monthly churn rate for each respective period.
5Market penetration is calculated by dividing the number of wireless connections at the end of the period by the total estimated population of consolidated operating markets.
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United States Cellular Corporation
Consolidated Statement of Operations Highlights
(Unaudited)
 
 Three Months Ended
March 31,
 2022 2021 2022
vs. 2021
(Dollars and shares in millions, except per share amounts)   
Operating revenues   
Service$787 $771 %
Equipment sales223 252 (12)%
Total operating revenues1,010 1,023 (1)%
Operating expenses   
System operations (excluding Depreciation, amortization and accretion reported below)185 185 
Cost of equipment sold257 275 (6)%
Selling, general and administrative325 305 %
Depreciation, amortization and accretion171 170 %
(Gain) loss on asset disposals, net2 (69)%
(Gain) loss on sale of business and other exit costs, net(1)(1)(5)%
Total operating expenses939 939 
Operating income71 84 (15)%
Investment and other income (expense)   
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated entities45 42 %
Interest and dividend income1 (46)%
Interest expense(33)(39)14 %
Total investment and other income (expense)13 N/M
Income before income taxes84 89 (6)%
Income tax expense32 27 19 %
Net income52 62 (17)%
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests, net of tax3 53 %
Net income attributable to UScellular shareholders$49 $60 (18)%
Basic weighted average shares outstanding86 86 
Basic earnings per share attributable to UScellular shareholders$0.57 $0.70 (18)%
Diluted weighted average shares outstanding87 88 (1)%
Diluted earnings per share attributable to UScellular shareholders$0.57 $0.69 (17)%
N/M - Percentage change not meaningful
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United States Cellular Corporation
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended
March 31,
20222021
(Dollars in millions)  
Cash flows from operating activities
Net income$52 $62 
Add (deduct) adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash flows from operating activities  
Depreciation, amortization and accretion171 170 
Bad debts expense25 
Stock-based compensation expense7 
Deferred income taxes, net22 23 
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated entities(45)(42)
Distributions from unconsolidated entities19 22 
(Gain) loss on asset disposals, net2 
(Gain) loss on sale of business and other exit costs, net(1)(1)
Other operating activities1 (1)
Changes in assets and liabilities from operations
Accounts receivable15 
Equipment installment plans receivable (18)
Inventory(4)
Accounts payable(62)(86)
Customer deposits and deferred revenues9 
Accrued taxes130 
Accrued interest10 
Other assets and liabilities(40)(53)
Net cash provided by operating activities311 124 
Cash flows from investing activities
Cash paid for additions to property, plant and equipment(150)(133)
Cash paid for licenses(561)(1,256)
Cash received from divestitures and exchanges1 
Net cash used in investing activities(710)(1,388)
Cash flows from financing activities
Issuance of long-term debt625 492 
Repayment of long-term debt(126)— 
Issuance of short-term debt60 — 
Common Shares reissued for benefit plans, net of tax payments (1)
Repurchase of Common Shares(10)(2)
Payment of debt issuance costs(1)(1)
Distributions to noncontrolling interests(1)(1)
Other financing activities(3)(2)
Net cash provided by financing activities544 485 
Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash145 (779)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash
Beginning of period199 1,291 
End of period$344 $512 
6


United States Cellular Corporation
Consolidated Balance Sheet Highlights
(Unaudited)
ASSETS
 March 31, 2022 December 31, 2021
(Dollars in millions)  
Current assets  
Cash and cash equivalents$300 $156 
Accounts receivable, net1,020 1,046 
Inventory, net177 173 
Prepaid expenses63 58 
Income taxes receivable 123 
Other current assets51 49 
Total current assets1,611 1,605 
Assets held for sale15 18 
Licenses4,677 4,088 
Investments in unconsolidated entities465 439 
Property, plant and equipment, net2,576 2,606 
Operating lease right-of-use assets952 959 
Other assets and deferred charges579 626 
Total assets$10,875 $10,341 
7


United States Cellular Corporation
Consolidated Balance Sheet Highlights
(Unaudited)
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
 March 31, 2022 December 31, 2021
(Dollars in millions, except per share amounts)  
Current liabilities  
Current portion of long-term debt$6 $
Accounts payable281 360 
Customer deposits and deferred revenues200 191 
Accrued taxes34 33 
Accrued compensation42 83 
Short-term operating lease liabilities131 129 
Other current liabilities179 104 
Total current liabilities873 903 
Deferred liabilities and credits  
Deferred income tax liability, net696 674 
Long-term operating lease liabilities882 889 
Other deferred liabilities and credits583 573 
Long-term debt, net3,220 2,728 
Noncontrolling interests with redemption features
12 11 
Equity  
UScellular shareholders’ equity  
Series A Common and Common Shares, par value $1.00 per share88 88 
Additional paid-in capital1,685 1,678 
Treasury shares(77)(68)
Retained earnings2,897 2,849 
Total UScellular shareholders’ equity4,593 4,547 
Noncontrolling interests16 16 
Total equity4,609 4,563 
Total liabilities and equity$10,875 $10,341 
8


United States Cellular Corporation
Financial Measures and Reconciliations
(Unaudited)
Free Cash Flow
 Three Months Ended
March 31,
 20222021
(Dollars in millions)
Cash flows from operating activities (GAAP)$311 $124 
Less: Cash paid for additions to property, plant and equipment150 133 
Free cash flow (Non-GAAP)1
$161 $(9)
1Free cash flow is a non-GAAP financial measure which UScellular believes may be useful to investors and other users of its financial information in evaluating liquidity, specifically, the amount of net cash generated by business operations after deducting Cash paid for additions to property, plant and equipment.
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