Cablevision Scraps Plan For Asset Sales; Revenue Climbs To $1.74B

James Dolan Says Cablevision Will Remain Open To Asset Sales Or Stock Repurchases

Cablevision President & CEO James Dolan Thursday told investors that the company "would scrap plans it had announced over the summer to consider the spinout of certain assets, which included its Rainbow cable networks, Radio City Music Hall," MSG and sports franchises including the Knicks and NHL Rangers, according to Vishesh Kumar of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The decision to "put the brakes on exploring spinouts raised questions about how earnest management was in breaking up the company." Cablevision Thursday reported Q3 earnings of $27.1M, or $0.09 per share, compared to a loss of $79.3M, or $0.27 per share in the year-ago period. Company revenue rose 15% to $1.74B, while revenue at MSG grew to $158M, up from $144M in the year-ago period. MSG's operating loss grew to $15.6M from $6M last year (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/7). Dolan said in light of the current economic crisis, Cablevision is "not actively pursuing any further strategic alternatives at this time and will be focusing on maintaining strong operating performance." Dolan also indicated that the company "would remain open to any compelling opportunities, including asset sales or stock repurchases, and 'will also consider ways to preserve our liquidity without impeding the growth of our core businesses'" (MULTICHANNEL.com, 11/6). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Martin Peers writes, "As logical as the decision is, Cablevision still faces the situation that sparked the strategic review in the first place; an investor community distrustful of the company's controlling shareholder, the Dolan family" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/7). At presstime, shares of Cablevision were trading at $15.71, down 2.9% from yesterday’s close of $16.34  (THE DAILY).