Cox counts losses from Katrina

Cox Communications reported dramatic losses for the third quarter of 2005 following the effects of Hurricane Katrina, which ravaged the Gulf Coast in late August.

The cable company’s net loss for the third quarter, $350.2 million, was a substantial drop from the $42 million in net income it reported a year ago. Quarterly revenue, meanwhile, was up 8% from a year earlier to $1.8 billion. The company also reported an operating loss of $356.9 million for the quarter and an operating loss margin (operating loss as a percentage of revenue) of 20%.

Hurricane Katrina caused “significant damage” to Cox’s operations in Louisiana along with the loss of an “indeterminate” number of customers, the company said. Insurance should cover a “significant” portion of the damage, Cox said, and the company has already paid a $6 million deductible in the third quarter.

In late October, Cox also agreed to sell several cable operations to Cebridge Connections. These operations, located in parts of West Texas, North Carolina, California, Louisiana and Arkansas, serve about 940,000 basic cable subscribers.

Cebridge is managed by Cequel III, a company founded in 2002 by former Charter Communications chief executive Jerry Kent to acquire telecom assets. Cequel III’s joint venture with equipment vendor Corvis acquired Broadwing’s national fiberoptic network in 2003.