UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
FORM 10-K
þ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE
ACT OF 1934
For the year ended December 31, 2004
OR
o TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE
ACT OF 1934
For the Transition Period From to .
Commission File Numbers:
RENAISSANCE MEDIA GROUP LLC*333-56679
RENAISSANCE MEDIA (LOUISIANA) LLC*333-56679-02
RENAISSANCE MEDIA (TENNESSEE) LLC*333-56679-01
RENAISSANCE MEDIA CAPITAL CORPORATION*333-56679-03
| Delaware | 14-1803051 | |
| Delaware | 14-1801165 | |
| Delaware | 14-1801164 | |
| Delaware | 14-1803049 | |
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) | |
| 12405 Powerscourt Drive | ||
| St. Louis, Missouri 63131 | (314) 965-0555 | |
| (Address of principal executive offices including zip code) | (Registrants telephone number, including area code) |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark whether the registrants (1) have filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrants were required to file such reports), and (2) have been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes þ No o
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrants knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. þ
Indicate by checkmark whether the registrants are accelerated filers (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes o No þ
The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity securities held by non-affiliates at June 30, 2004 was $0. All of the limited liability company membership interests of Renaissance Media (Louisiana) LLC and Renaissance Media (Tennessee) LLC are held by Renaissance Media Group LLC. All of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of Renaissance Media Capital Corporation are held by Renaissance Media Group LLC. All of the limited liability company membership interests of Renaissance Media Group LLC are held by Charter Communications, LLC (and indirectly by Charter Communications Holdings, LLC, a reporting company under the Exchange Act). There is no public trading market for any of the aforementioned limited liability company membership interests or shares of capital stock.
Documents Incorporated By Reference
The following documents are incorporated into this Report by reference: None
RENAISSANCE MEDIA GROUP LLC
RENAISSANCE MEDIA (LOUISIANA) LLC
RENAISSANCE MEDIA (TENNESSEE) LLC
RENAISSANCE MEDIA CAPITAL CORPORATION
FORM 10-K FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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This annual report on Form 10-K is for the year ended December 31, 2004. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allows us to incorporate by reference information that we file with the SEC, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you directly to those documents. Information incorporated by reference is considered to be part of this annual report. In addition, information that we file with the SEC in the future will automatically update and supersede information contained in this annual report. In this annual report, we, us and our refer to Renaissance Media Group LLC and its wholly owned finance subsidiaries, Renaissance Media (Louisiana) LLC, Renaissance Media (Tennessee) LLC and Renaissance Media Capital Corporation unless the context requires otherwise.
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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:
This annual report includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), regarding, among other things, our plans, strategies and prospects, both business and financial, including, without limitation, the forward-looking statements set forth in the Focus for 2005 section under Part I, Item 1. Business, Overview of Operations and the Liquidity and Capital Resources sections under Part II, Item 7. Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in this annual report. Although we believe that our plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or realize these plans, intentions or expectations. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, without limitation, the factors described under Certain Trends and Uncertainties under Part II, Item 7. Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in this annual report. Many of the forward-looking statements contained in this annual report may be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as believe, expect, anticipate, should, planned, will, may, intend, estimated and potential, among others. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements we make in this annual report are set forth in this annual report and in other reports or documents that we file from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, and include, but are not limited to:
| | our ability to sustain and grow revenues and cash flows from operating activities by offering video, high-speed data, telephony and other services and to maintain a stable customer base, particularly in the face of increasingly aggressive competition from other service providers; | |||
| | the availability of funds to meet interest payment obligations under our and our indirect parent companies debt and to fund our operations and necessary capital expenditures, either through cash flows from operating activities, further borrowings or other sources; | |||
| | our ability to comply with all covenants in our indenture, any violation of which would result in a violation of the indenture and could trigger a default of other obligations of our affiliates under cross-default provisions; | |||
| | our and our indirect parent companies ability to pay or refinance debt as it becomes due; | |||
| | the results of the pending grand jury investigation by the United States Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, and the ability to reach a final approved settlement with respect to the putative class action, the unconsolidated class action, and derivative shareholders litigation against Charter Communications, Inc., our indirect parent, on the terms of the stipulations of settlement described herein; | |||
| | our ability to obtain programming at reasonable prices or to pass programming cost increases on to our customers; | |||
| | general business conditions, economic uncertainty or slowdown; and | |||
| | the effects of governmental regulation, including but not limited to local franchise taxing authorities, on our business. | |||
All forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. We are under no duty or obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this annual report.
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PART I
Item 1. Business.
Introduction
Renaissance Media Group LLC (Renaissance Media Group), through its subsidiaries, is the owner and operator of cable systems. We are a wholly owned subsidiary of CCO NR Holdings, LLC (CCO NR), from which we receive funding as needed. As of December 31, 2004, we own and operate cable systems serving approximately 142,400 analog video customers. Through our broadband network of coaxial and fiber optic cable, we offer our customers traditional cable video programming (analog and digital, which we refer to as video service), high-speed cable Internet access (which we refer to as high-speed data service) and advanced broadband cable services (such as video on demand (VOD)).
Renaissance Media Capital Corporation (Capital) was formed as a wholly owned subsidiary of Renaissance Media Group for the sole purpose of being a co-issuer of debt instruments to be offered and sold to the public. Renaissance Media (Louisiana) LLC (Louisiana) and Renaissance Media (Tennessee) LLC (Tennessee) are both wholly owned subsidiaries of Renaissance Media Group, and hold a 76% interest and 24% interest, respectively, in Renaissance Media LLC (Media). Media owns and operates cable systems in Louisiana, Tennessee and Mississippi and commenced active operations in April 1998. Renaissance Media Group, Capital, Louisiana and Tennessee do not, and will not, conduct any operations, and their only assets are the equity interests in one another as described above.
At December 31, 2004, our investment in cable properties, long-term debt and total members equity were $365.9 million, $115.8 million and $197.3 million, respectively. Our debt-to-equity ratio and working capital deficit were 0.6 to 1 and $50.0 million at December 31, 2004, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2004, our revenues and net loss were approximately $115.7 million and $31.8 million, respectively.
We are managed by Charter Communications, Inc. (Charter) and Charter Communications Holding Company, LLC (Charter Holdco) and pay a fee for their management services. See also Note 13 to our consolidated financial statements contained in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data. Our principal executive offices are located at Charter Plaza, 12405 Powerscourt Drive, St. Louis Missouri 63131. Our telephone number is (314) 965-0555 and information regarding us is available on Charters website accessible at www.charter.com. Since January 1, 2002, our annual reports, quarterly reports and current reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments thereto, have been made available on Charters website free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after they have been filed. The information posted on Charters website is not incorporated into this annual report.
Recent Events
On January 17, 2005, Robert P. May was appointed as Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Charter, replacing Carl E. Vogel who, effective on the same date, resigned his position as President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Charter and each of Charters subsidiaries for which Mr. Vogel served as a director and officer. Additionally, Mr. May was appointed to the Executive Committee of Charters board of directors and will continue to serve on the boards Strategic Planning Committee. He was also appointed as an officer and director of Charters subsidiaries for which Mr. Vogel was an officer and director. Charters board of directors has formed an Executive Search Committee to oversee Charters search for a permanent President and Chief Executive Officer.
Derek Chang, Charters Executive Vice President of Finance and Strategy and Interim co-Chief Financial Officer, has informed Charter of his intention to resign effective April 15, 2005.
Focus for 2005
Our principal financial goal is to maximize our return on invested capital. To do so, we will focus on increasing revenues, growing our customer base, improving customer retention and enhancing customer satisfaction by
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providing reliable, high-quality service offerings, superior customer service and attractive bundled offerings.
Specifically, in the near term, we are focusing on:
| | generating improvements in the overall customer experience in such critical areas as service delivery, customer care, and new product offerings; | |||
| | developing more sophisticated customer management capabilities through investment in our customer care and marketing infrastructure, including targeted marketing capabilities; | |||
| | executing growth strategies for new services, including digital simulcast, VOD, and digital video recorder service (DVR); and | |||
| | managing our operating costs by exercising discipline in capital and operational spending. | |||
We have begun an internal operational improvement initiative aimed at helping us gain new customers and retain existing customers, which is focused on customer care, technical operations and sales. We intend to increase efforts to focus management attention on instilling a customer service oriented culture throughout the company and to give those areas of our operations increased priority of resources for staffing levels, training budgets and financial incentives for employee performance in those areas.
We believe that our high-speed data service will continue to provide a substantial portion of our revenue growth in the near future. We also plan to continue to expand our marketing of high-speed data service to the business community, which we believe has shown an increasing interest in high-speed data service and private network services.
We believe we offer our customers an excellent choice of services through a variety of bundled packages, particularly with respect to our digital video and high-speed data services. Our digital platform enables us to offer a significant number and variety of channels, and we offer customers the opportunity to choose among groups of channel offerings, including premium channels, and to combine selected programming with other services such as high-speed data, high definition television (in selected markets) and VOD (in selected markets).
Item 2. Properties.
Our principal physical assets consist of cable distribution plant and equipment, including signal receiving, encoding and decoding devices, headend reception facilities, distribution systems and customer drop equipment for each of our cable systems.
Our cable plant and related equipment are generally attached to utility poles under pole rental agreements with local public utilities and telephone companies, and in certain locations are buried in underground ducts or trenches. We own or lease real property for signal reception sites and own most of our service vehicles.
The physical components of our cable systems require maintenance as well as periodic upgrades to support the new services and products we introduce. We believe that our properties are generally in good operating condition and are suitable for our business operations.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
Securities Class Actions and Derivative Suits
Fourteen putative federal class action lawsuits (the Federal Class Actions) were filed against Charter and certain of its former and present officers and directors in various jurisdictions allegedly on behalf of all purchasers of Charters securities during the period from either November 8 or November 9, 1999 through July 17 or July 18, 2002. Unspecified damages were sought by the plaintiffs. In general, the lawsuits alleged that Charter utilized misleading accounting practices and failed to disclose these accounting practices and/or issued false and misleading financial statements and press releases concerning Charters operations and prospects.
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The Federal Class Actions were specifically and individually identified in public filings made by Charter prior to the date of this annual report.
In October 2002, Charter filed a motion with the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (the Panel) to transfer the Federal Class Actions to the Eastern District of Missouri. On March 12, 2003, the Panel transferred the six Federal Class Actions not filed in the Eastern District of Missouri to that district for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings with the eight Federal Class Actions already pending there. The Panels transfer order assigned the Federal Class Actions to Judge Charles A. Shaw. By virtue of a prior court order, StoneRidge Investment Partners LLC became lead plaintiff upon entry of the Panels transfer order. StoneRidge subsequently filed a Consolidated Amended Complaint. The Court subsequently consolidated the Federal Class Actions into a single action (the Consolidated Federal Class Action) for pretrial purposes. On June 19, 2003, following a status and scheduling conference with the parties, the Court issued a Case Management Order setting forth a schedule for the pretrial phase of the Consolidated Federal Class Action. Motions to dismiss the Consolidated Amended Complaint were filed. On February 10, 2004, in response to a joint motion made by StoneRidge and defendants Charter, Vogel and Allen, the court entered an order providing, among other things, that: (1) the parties who filed such motion engage in a mediation within ninety (90) days; and (2) all proceedings in the Consolidated Federal Class Actions were stayed until May 10, 2004. On May 11, 2004, the Court extended the stay in the Consolidated Federal Class Action for an additional sixty (60) days. On July 12, 2004, the parties submitted a joint motion to again extend the stay, this time until September 10, 2004. The Court granted that extension on July 20, 2004. On August 5, 2004, Stoneridge, Charter and the individual defendants who were the subject of the suit entered into a Memorandum of Understanding setting forth agreements in principle to settle the Consolidated Federal Class Action. These parties subsequently entered into Stipulations of Settlement dated as of January 24, 2005 (described more fully below) which incorporate the terms of the August 5, 2004 Memorandum of Understanding.
The Consolidated Federal Class Action is entitled:
| | In re Charter Communications, Inc. Securities Litigation, MDL Docket No. 1506 (All Cases), StoneRidge Investments Partners, LLC, Individually and On Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, v. Charter Communications, Inc., Paul Allen, Jerald L. Kent, Carl E. Vogel, Kent Kalkwarf, David G. Barford, Paul E. Martin, David L. McCall, Bill Shreffler, Chris Fenger, James H. Smith, III, Scientific-Atlanta, Inc., Motorola, Inc. and Arthur Andersen, LLP, Consolidated Case No. 4:02-CV-1186-CAS. |
On September 12, 2002, a shareholders derivative suit (the State Derivative Action) was filed in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, State of Missouri (the Missouri State Court), against Charter and its then current directors, as well as its former auditors. A substantively identical derivative action was later filed and consolidated into the State Derivative Action. The plaintiffs allege that the individual defendants breached their fiduciary duties by failing to establish and maintain adequate internal controls and procedures. Unspecified damages, allegedly on Charters behalf, are sought by the plaintiffs.
The consolidated State Derivative Action is entitled:
| | Kenneth Stacey, Derivatively on behalf of Nominal Defendant Charter Communications, Inc., v. Ronald L. Nelson, Paul G. Allen, Marc B. Nathanson, Nancy B. Peretsman, William Savoy, John H. Tory, Carl E. Vogel, Larry W. Wangberg, Arthur Andersen, LLP and Charter Communications, Inc. |
On March 12, 2004, an action substantively identical to the State Derivative Action was filed in the Missouri State Court, against Charter and certain of its current and former directors, as well as its former auditors. The plaintiffs in that case alleged that the individual defendants breached their fiduciary duties by failing to establish and maintain adequate internal controls and procedures. Unspecified damages, allegedly on Charters behalf, were sought by plaintiffs. On July 14, 2004, the Court consolidated this case with the State Derivative Action.
This action is entitled:
| | Thomas Schimmel, Derivatively on behalf on Nominal Defendant Charter Communications, Inc., v. Ronald L. Nelson, Paul G. Allen, Marc B. Nathanson, Nancy B. Peretsman, William D. Savoy, John H. Tory, Carl E. Vogel, Larry W. Wangberg, and Arthur Andersen, LLP, and Charter Communications, Inc. |
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Separately, on February 12, 2003, a shareholders derivative suit (the Federal Derivative Action), was filed against Charter and its then current directors in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The plaintiff in that suit alleged that the individual defendants breached their fiduciary duties and grossly mismanaged Charter by failing to establish and maintain adequate internal controls and procedures. Unspecified damages, allegedly on Charters behalf, were sought by the plaintiffs.
The Federal Derivative Action is entitled:
| | Arthur Cohn, Derivatively on behalf of Nominal Defendant Charter Communications, Inc., v. Ronald L. Nelson, Paul G. Allen, Marc B. Nathanson, Nancy B. Peretsman, William Savoy, John H. Tory, Carl E. Vogel, Larry W. Wangberg, and Charter Communications, Inc. |
As noted above, Charter entered into Memoranda of Understanding on August 5, 2004 setting forth agreements in principle regarding settlement of the Consolidated Federal Class Action, the State Derivative Action(s) and the Federal Derivative Action (the Actions). Charter and various other defendants in those actions subsequently entered into Stipulations of Settlement dated as of January 24, 2005, setting forth a settlement of the Actions in a manner consistent with the terms of the Memoranda of Understanding. The Stipulations of Settlement, along with various supporting documentation, were filed with the Court on February 2, 2005. The Stipulations of Settlement provide that, in exchange for a release of all claims by plaintiffs against Charter and its former and present officers and directors named in the Actions, Charter will pay to the plaintiffs a combination of cash and equity collectively valued at $144.0 million, which will include the fees and expenses of plaintiffs counsel. Of this amount, $64.0 million will be paid in cash (by Charters insurance carriers) and the balance will be paid in shares of Charter Class A common stock having an aggregate value of $40.0 million and ten-year warrants to purchase shares of Charter Class A common stock having an aggregate warrant value of $40.0 million, with such values in each case being determined pursuant to formulas set forth in the Stipulations of Settlement. The warrants would have an exercise price equal to 150% of the fair market value (as defined) of Charter Class A common stock as of the date of the entry of the order of final judgment approving the settlement. In addition, Charter expects to issue additional shares of its Class A common stock to its insurance carrier having an aggregate value of $5.0 million. In the event that the valuation formula in the Stipulations provides for a per share value of less than $2.25, Charter may elect to terminate the settlement. As part of the settlements, Charter will also commit to a variety of corporate governance changes, internal practices and public disclosures, some of which have already been undertaken and none of which are inconsistent with measures Charter is taking in connection with the recent conclusion of the SEC investigation described below. Documents related to the settlement of the Actions have now been executed and filed. On February 15, 2005, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri gave preliminary approval to the settlement of the Actions. The settlement of each of the lawsuits remains conditioned upon, among other things, final judicial approval of the settlements following notice to the class, and dismissal with prejudice of the consolidated derivative actions now pending in Missouri State Court, which are related to the Federal Derivative Action.
In addition to the Federal Class Actions, the State Derivative Action(s), the new Missouri State Court derivative action and the Federal Derivative Action, six putative class action lawsuits were filed against Charter and certain of its then current directors and officers in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (the Delaware Class Actions). The lawsuits were filed after the filing of a Schedule 13D amendment by Mr. Allen indicating that he was exploring a number of possible alternatives with respect to restructuring or expanding his ownership interest in Charter. We believe the plaintiffs speculated that Mr. Allen might have been contemplating an unfair bid for shares of Charter or some other sort of going private transaction on unfair terms and generally alleged that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties by participating in or acquiescing to such a transaction. The lawsuits, which are substantively identical, were brought on behalf of Charters securities holders as of July 29, 2002, and sought unspecified damages and possible injunctive relief. However, no such transaction by Mr. Allen has been presented. On April 30, 2004, orders of dismissal without prejudice were entered in each of the Delaware Class Actions.
The Delaware Class Actions consist of:
| | Eleanor Leonard, v. Paul G. Allen, Larry W. Wangberg, John H. Tory, Carl E. Vogel, Marc B. Nathanson, Nancy B. Peretsman, Ronald L. Nelson, William Savoy, and Charter Communications, Inc., filed on August 12, |
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| 2002; |
| | Helene Giarraputo, on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated, v. Paul G. Allen, Carl E. Vogel, Marc B. Nathanson, Ronald L. Nelson, Nancy B. Peretsman, William Savoy, John H. Tory, Larry W. Wangberg, and Charter Communications, Inc., filed on August 13, 2002; |
| | Ronald D. Wells, Whitney Counsil and Manny Varghese, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, v. Charter Communications, Inc., Ronald L. Nelson, Paul G. Allen, Marc B. Nathanson, Nancy B. Peretsman, William Savoy, John H. Tory, Carl E. Vogel, Larry W. Wangberg, filed on August 13, 2002; |
| | Gilbert Herman, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, v. Paul G. Allen, Larry W. Wangberg, John H. Tory, Carl E. Vogel, Marc B. Nathanson, Nancy B. Peretsman, Ronald L. Nelson, William Savoy, and Charter Communications, Inc., filed on August 14, 2002; |
| | Stephen Noteboom, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, v. Paul G. Allen, Larry W. Wangberg, John H. Tory, Carl E. Vogel, Marc B. Nathanson, Nancy B. Peretsman, Ronald L. Nelson, William Savoy, and Charter Communications, Inc., filed on August 16, 2002; and |
| | John Fillmore on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, v. Paul G. Allen, Larry W. Wangberg, John H. Tory, Carl E. Vogel, Marc B. Nathanson, Nancy B. Peretsman, Ronald L. Nelson, William Savoy, and Charter Communications, Inc., filed on October 18, 2002. |
Government Investigations
In August 2002, Charter became aware of a grand jury investigation being conducted by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Missouri into certain of its accounting and reporting practices, focusing on how Charter reported customer numbers, and its reporting of amounts received from digital set-top terminal suppliers for advertising. The U.S. Attorneys Office has publicly stated that Charter is not a target of the investigation. Charter was also advised by the U.S. Attorneys Office that no current officer or member of its board of directors is a target of the investigation. On July 24, 2003, a federal grand jury charged four former officers of Charter with conspiracy and mail and wire fraud, alleging improper accounting and reporting practices focusing on revenue from digital set-top terminal suppliers and inflated customer account numbers. Each of the indicted former officers pled guilty to single conspiracy counts related to the original mail and wire fraud charges and are awaiting sentencing. Charter has informed us that it is fully cooperating with the investigation.
On November 4, 2002, Charter received an informal, non-public inquiry from the staff of the SEC. The SEC issued a formal order of investigation dated January 23, 2003, and subsequently served document and testimony subpoenas on Charter and a number of its former employees. The investigation and subpoenas generally concerned Charters prior reports with respect to its determination of the number of customers, and various of its accounting policies and practices including its capitalization of certain expenses and dealings with certain vendors, including programmers and digital set-top terminal suppliers. On July 27, 2004, the SEC and Charter reached a final agreement to settle the investigation. In the Settlement Agreement and Cease and Desist Order, Charter agreed to entry of an administrative order prohibiting any future violations of United States securities laws and requiring certain other remedial internal practices and public disclosures. Charter neither admitted nor denied any wrongdoing, and the SEC assessed no fine against Charter.
Indemnification
Charter is generally required to indemnify each of the named individual defendants in connection with the matters described above pursuant to the terms of its bylaws and (where applicable) such individual defendants employment agreements. In accordance with these documents, in connection with the pending grand jury investigation, the now settled SEC investigation and the above described lawsuits, some of Charters current and former directors and current and former officers have been advanced certain costs and expenses incurred in connection with their defense. On February 22, 2005, Charter filed suit against four of its former officers who were indicted in the course of the grand jury investigation. These suits seek to recover the legal fees and other related expenses advanced to these individuals by Charter for the grand jury investigation, SEC investigation and class action and related lawsuits.
Other Litigation
In October 2001, two customers, Nikki Nicholls and Geraldine M. Barber, filed a class action suit against Charter Holdco in South Carolina Court of Common Pleas (the South Carolina Class Action), purportedly on behalf of a
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class of Charter Holdcos customers, alleging that Charter Holdco improperly charged them a wire maintenance fee without request or permission. They also claimed that Charter Holdco improperly required them to rent analog and/or digital set-top terminals even though their television sets were cable ready. A substantively identical case was filed in the Superior Court of Athens Clarke County, Georgia by Emma S. Tobar on March 26, 2002 (the Georgia Class Action), alleging a nationwide class for these claims. Charter Holdco removed the South Carolina Class Action to the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina in November 2001, and moved to dismiss the suit in December 2001. The federal judge remanded the case to the South Carolina Court of Common Pleas in August 2002 without ruling on the motion to dismiss. The plaintiffs subsequently moved for a default judgment, arguing that upon return to state court, Charter Holdco should have, but did not file a new motion to dismiss. The state court judge granted the plaintiffs motion over Charter Holdcos objection in September 2002. Charter Holdco immediately appealed that decision to the South Carolina Court of Appeals and the South Carolina Supreme Court, but those courts ruled that until a final judgment was entered against Charter Holdco, they lacked jurisdiction to hear the appeal.
In January 2003, the Court of Common Pleas granted the plaintiffs motion for class certification. In October and November 2003, Charter Holdco filed motions (a) asking that court to set aside the default judgment, and (b) seeking dismissal of plaintiffs suit for failure to state a claim. In January 2004, the Court of Common Pleas granted in part and denied in part Charter Holdcos motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. It also took under advisement Charter Holdcos motion to set aside the default judgment. In April 2004, the parties to both the Georgia and South Carolina Class Actions participated in a mediation. The mediator made a proposal to the parties to settle the lawsuits. In May 2004, the parties accepted the mediators proposal and reached a tentative settlement, subject to final documentation and court approval. As a result of the tentative settlement, we recorded a special charge of $0.2 million in our consolidated statement of operations in the first quarter of 2004. On July 8, 2004, the Superior Court of Athens Clarke County, Georgia granted a motion to amend the Tobar complaint to add Nicholls, Barber and April Jones as plaintiffs in the Georgia Class Action and to add any potential class members in South Carolina. The court also granted preliminary approval of the proposed settlement on that date. On August 2, 2004, the parties submitted a joint request to the South Carolina Court of Common Pleas to stay the South Carolina Class Action pending final approval of the settlement and on August 17, 2004, that court granted the parties request. On November 10, 2004, the court granted final approval of the settlement, rejecting positions advanced by two objectors to the settlement. On December 13, 2004 the court entered a written order formally approving that settlement. On January 11, 2005, certain class members appealed the order entered by the Georgia court. Those objectors voluntarily dismissed their appeal with prejudice on February 8, 2005. On February 9, 2005, the South Carolina Court of Common Pleas entered a court order of dismissal for the South Carolina Class Action. Additionally, one of the objectors to this settlement recently filed a similar, but not identical, lawsuit.
The South Carolina Class Action was entitled:
| | Nikki Nicholls and Geraldine M. Barber, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated v. Charter Communications Holding Company, LLC and City of Spartanburg filed on October 29, 2001. |
The Georgia Class Action was entitled:
| | Emma S. Tobar, Nikki Nicholls, Geraldine M. Barber and April Jones, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated v. Charter Communications Holding Company, LLC, et al, originally filed on March 26, 2002. |
Outcome
In addition to the matters set forth above, Charter is also party to other lawsuits and claims that arose in the ordinary course of conducting its business. In the opinion of management, after taking into account recorded liabilities, the outcome of these other lawsuits and claims are not expected to have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations or our liquidity.
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PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrants Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters.
(A) Market Information
There is no established trading market for the equity interests of Renaissance Media Group,
Capital, Louisiana or Tennessee.
(B) Holders
Charter Holdings owns indirectly all of the limited liability company membership interests of the
registrants.
(C) Dividends
We record distributions when management fees charged to us exceed expenses incurred on our behalf. We did not pay distributions for the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003. Our ability to pay distributions is limited under the terms of covenants in the indenture governing our outstanding senior discount notes.
(D) Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
No unregistered equity securities of Renaissance Media Group, Capital, Louisiana or Tennessee were sold by such entities during the fourth quarter of the year ended December 31, 2004.
Item 7. Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
Reference is made to Certain Trends and Uncertainties of this section and Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements, which describes important factors that could cause actual results to differ from expectations and non-historical information contained herein. In addition, the following discussion should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements of Charter Communications, Inc. and subsidiaries as of and for the years ended December 31, 2004, 2003 and 2002, and the annual report on Form 10-K of Charter Holdings for the year ended December 31, 2004.
Introduction
The industrys and our most significant operational challenges in 2004 included competition from DBS providers and DSL service providers. We believe that competition from DBS has resulted in net analog video customer losses and decreased growth rates for digital video customers. Competition from DSL providers combined with limited opportunities to expand our customer base has resulted in decreased growth rates for high-speed data customers. In the recent past, we have grown revenues by offsetting video customer losses with price increases and sales of incremental advanced services such as high-speed data, video on demand, digital video recorders and high definition television. We expect to continue to grow revenues through continued growth in high-speed data and incremental new services including VOIP telephony, high definition television, VOD and DVR service.
For the year ended December 31, 2004, our loss from operations, which includes depreciation and amortization expense and impairment of franchises but excludes interest expense, was $15.0 million. For the year ended December 31, 2003, our income from operations was $11.2 million. We had a negative operating margin (defined as income (loss) from operations divided by revenues) of 13% for the year ended December 31, 2004. For the year ended December 31, 2003, we had an operating margin of 10%. The decline in income from operations and operating margins from 2003 to 2004 was principally due to the impairment of franchises of $21.0 million recorded in the third quarter of 2004. Operating margins for the year ended December 31, 2004 compared to the year ended December 31, 2003 were also negatively impacted by increases in programming and service costs.
Our outstanding public notes require us to pay cash interest each April and October and mature in 2008. We expect that we will rely on loans and capital contributions from our indirect parent companies to repay our public notes at
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maturity. However, there can be no assurance that our indirect parent companies will have sufficient liquidity to provide funds to us to satisfy this payment when due.
Results of Operations
The following table sets forth the percentages of revenues that items in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations constitute for the indicated periods (dollars in thousands):
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | 2003 | |||||||||||||||
Revenues |
$ | 115,711 | 100 | % | $ | 107,474 | 100 | % | ||||||||
Costs and Expenses: |
||||||||||||||||
Operating (excluding depreciation and
amortization) |
48,776 | 42 | % | 44,019 | 41 | % | ||||||||||
Selling, general and administrative |
22,967 | 20 | % | 19,590 | 18 | % | ||||||||||
Depreciation and amortization |
35,456 | 31 | % | 32,467 | 30 | % | ||||||||||
Impairment of franchises |
21,014 | 18 | % | | | |||||||||||
Acquisition liability settlements |
| | (402 | ) | | |||||||||||
Loss on sale of fixed assets, net |
296 | | 642 | 1 | % | |||||||||||
Special charges, net |
2,248 | 2 | % | | | |||||||||||
| 130,757 | 113 | % | 96,316 | 90 | % | |||||||||||
Income (loss) from operations |
(15,046 | ) | (13 | )% | 11,158 | 10 | % | |||||||||
Other income and expenses: |
||||||||||||||||
Interest expense, net |
(11,024 | ) | (10,835 | ) | ||||||||||||
Income (loss) before cumulative effect of
accounting change |
(26,070 | ) | 323 | |||||||||||||
Cumulative effect of accounting change |
(5,744 | ) | | |||||||||||||
Net income (loss) |
$ | (31,814 | ) | $ | 323 | |||||||||||
Year Ended December 31, 2004 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2003
Revenues. Revenues increased by $8.2 million, or 8%, from $107.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2003 to $115.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2004. This increase is principally the result of increases in the number of digital video and high-speed data customers as well as price increases for video and high-speed data services, and is offset partially by a decrease in analog video customers. Our goal is to increase revenues by improving customer service which we believe will stabilize our analog video customer base, implementing price increases on certain services and packages and increasing the number of our customers who purchase high-speed data services, digital video and advanced products and services such as VOIP telephony, VOD, high definition television and DVR service.
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Revenues by service offering were as follows (dollars in thousands):
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | 2003 | 2004 over 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| %of | % of | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenues | Revenues | Revenues | Revenues | Change | Change | |||||||||||||||||||
Video |
$ | 83,934 | 73 | % | $ | 81,967 | 77 | % | $ | 1,967 | 2 | % | ||||||||||||
High-speed data |
14,415 | 12 | % | 9,895 | 9 | % | 4,520 | 46 | % | |||||||||||||||
Advertising sales |
5,805 | 5 | % | 5,504 | 5 | % | 301 | 5 | % | |||||||||||||||
Commercial |
3,017 | 3 | % | 2,355 | 2 | % | 662 | 28 | % | |||||||||||||||
Other |
8,540 | 7 | % | 7,753 | 7 | % | 787 | 10 | % | |||||||||||||||
| $ | 115,711 | 100 | % | $ | 107,474 | 100 | % | $ | 8,237 | 8 | % | |||||||||||||
Video revenues consist primarily of revenues from analog and digital video services provided to our non-commercial customers. Video revenues increased by $2.0 million, or 2%, for the year ended December 31, 2004 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2003. The increase was primarily the result of price increases and an increase in digital video customers, partially offset by a decline in analog video customers.
Revenues from high-speed data services provided to our non-commercial customers increased $4.5 million, or 46%, from $9.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2003 to $14.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2004. The increase was primarily the result of an increase in the average number of customers receiving high-speed data services and increase in average price of the service.
Advertising sales revenues consist primarily of revenues from commercial advertising customers, programmers and other vendors. Advertising sales increased $0.3 million, or 5%, from $5.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2003 to $5.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2004, primarily as a result of an increase in national advertising campaigns and election related advertising. For the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003, we received $0.3 million and $0.3 million, respectively, in advertising revenue from vendors.
Commercial revenues consist primarily of revenues from cable video and high-speed data services to our commercial customers. Commercial revenues increased $0.7 million, or 28%, from $2.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2003 to $3.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2004, primarily as a result of an increase in commercial high-speed data revenues.
Other revenues consist of revenues from franchise fees, equipment rental, customer installations, home shopping, late payment fees, wire maintenance fees and other miscellaneous revenues. Other revenues increased $0.8 million, or 10%, from $7.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2003 to $8.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2004. The increase was primarily the result of an increase in home shopping and infomercial revenue and franchises fees.
Operating expenses. Operating expenses increased by $4.8 million, or 11%, from $44.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2003 to $48.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2004. Programming costs included in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations were $30.9 million and $27.5 million, representing 63% and 63% of total operating expenses for the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003, respectively. Key expense components as a percentage of revenues were as follows (dollars in thousands):
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| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | 2003 | 2004 over 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| % of | % of | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Expenses | Revenues | Expenses | Revenues | Change | % Change | |||||||||||||||||||
Programming |
$ | 30,874 | 27 | % | $ | 27,540 | 26 | % | $ | 3,334 | 12 | % | ||||||||||||
Advertising sales |
2,361 | 2 | % | 2,504 | 2 | % | (143 | ) | (6 | %) | ||||||||||||||
Service |
15,541 | 13 | % | 13,975 | 13 | % | 1,566 | 11 | % | |||||||||||||||
| $ | 48,776 | 42 | % | $ | 44,019 | 41 | % | $ | 4,757 | 11 | % | |||||||||||||
Programming costs consist primarily of costs paid to programmers for analog, premium and digital channels and pay-per-view programming. The increase in programming costs of $3.3 million, or 12%, was a result of price increases, particularly in sports programming, an increased number of channels carried on our systems and an increase in digital video customers, partially offset by a decrease in analog video customers. Programming costs were offset by the amortization of payments received from programmers in support of launches of new channels of $1.7 million and $1.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003, respectively.
In every year we have operated, our cable programming costs have increased in excess of the U.S. inflation and cost-of-living increases, and we expect them to continue to increase because of a variety of factors, including inflationary or negotiated annual increases, additional programming being provided to customers, and increased costs to purchase or produce programming. Our increasing programming costs will result in declining operating margins for our video services to the extent we are unable to pass on cost increases to our customers. We expect to partially offset any resulting margin compression from our traditional video services with revenue from advanced video services, increased high-speed data revenues, advertising revenues and commercial service revenues.
Advertising sales expenses consist of costs related to traditional advertising services provided to advertising customers, including salaries, benefits and commissions. Advertising sales expenses remained virtually unchanged for the year ended December 31, 2004 compared to the year ended December 31, 2003. Service costs consist primarily of service personnel salaries and benefits, franchise fees, system utilities, Internet service provider fees, maintenance and pole rental expense. The increase in service costs of $1.6 million, or 11%, resulted primarily from additional activity associated with ongoing infrastructure maintenance.
Selling, general and administrative expenses. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased by $3.4 million, or 17%, from $19.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2003 to $23.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2004. Key components of expense as a percentage of revenues were as follows (dollars in thousands):
| Year ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | 2003 | 2004 over 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| % of | % of | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Expenses | Revenues | Expenses | Revenues | Change | % Change | |||||||||||||||||||
General and
administrative |
$ | 20,619 | 18 | % | $ | 18,145 | 17 | % | $ | 2,474 | 14 | % | ||||||||||||
Marketing |
2,348 | 2 | % | 1,445 | 1 | % | 903 | 62 | % | |||||||||||||||
| $ | 22,967 | 20 | % | $ | 19,590 | 18 | % | $ | 3,377 | 17 | % | |||||||||||||
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries and benefits, rent expense, billing costs, call center costs, internal network costs, bad debt expense and property taxes. The increase in general and administrative expenses of $2.5 million, or 14%, resulted primarily from increases in call center costs of $2.3 million and bad debt expense of $0.9 million offset by decreases in costs associated with salaries and benefits of $1.0 million.
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Marketing expenses increased $0.9 million, or 62%, as a result of an increased investment in marketing and branding campaigns.
Depreciation and amortization. Depreciation and amortization expense increased by $3.0 million, or 9%, from $32.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2003 to $35.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2004. The increase in depreciation related to an increase in capital expenditures.
Impairment of franchises. We performed an impairment assessment during the third quarter of 2004. The use of lower projected growth rates and the resulting revised estimates of future cash flows in our valuation, primarily as a result of increased competition, led to the recognition of a $21.0 million impairment charge for the year ended December 31, 2004.
Acquisition liability settlements. Acquisition liability settlements of $0.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2003 represents the reversal of estimated liabilities recorded in connection with prior business combinations, which, based on an evaluation of current facts and circumstances, are no longer required.
Loss on sale of fixed assets, net. Loss on sale of fixed assets of $0.3 million and $0.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003, respectively, represents the losses realized on the disposition of fixed assets.
Special charges, net. Special charges of $2.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2004 represents approximately $2.1 million of aggregate value of the Charter Class A common stock and warrants to purchase Charter Class A common stock contemplated to be issued as part of a settlement of the consolidated federal class actions, state derivative actions and federal derivative action lawsuits and approximately $0.1 million of litigation costs related to the tentative settlement of a South Carolina national class action suit, all of which settlements are subject to final documentation and court approval. We expect to continue to record additional special charges in 2005 related to the continued reorganization of our operations.
Interest expense, net. Net interest expense increased $0.2 million from $10.8 million to $11.0 million, or 2%, in 2004 compared to 2003. This increase is the result of the accretion and cash interest associated with our senior discount notes.
Cumulative effect of accounting change. Cumulative effect of accounting change of $5.7 million in 2004 represents the impairment charge recorded as a result of our adoption of EITF Topic D-108, Use of the Residual Method to Value Acquired Assets Other than Goodwill.
Net income (loss). Net loss increased $32.1 million from net income of $0.3 million to net loss of $31.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2004 compared to 2003, as a result of the combination of factors described above. The impact to net loss in 2004 of the impairment of franchises and the cumulative effect of accounting change was to increase net loss by $26.8 million in 2004. The impact of the acquisition liability settlements was to increase net income by $0.4 million in 2003.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Introduction
This section contains a discussion of our liquidity and capital resources, including a discussion of our cash position, sources and uses of cash, access to credit facilities and other financing sources, historical financing activities, cash needs, capital expenditures and outstanding debt.
Overview
Our business requires significant cash to fund debt service costs, distributions to our parent companies, capital expenditures and ongoing operations. We have historically funded these requirements through cash flows from
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operating activities and capital contributions from our indirect parent companies. The mix of funding sources changes from period to period. For the year ended December 31, 2004, we generated $19.5 million of net cash flows from operating activities. During 2005, we expect to fund our liquidity and capital requirements primarily through cash flows from operating activities.
The following table summarizes our payment obligations as of December 31, 2004 under our long-term debt and certain other contractual obligations and commitments (dollars in thousands).
| Payment by Period | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Less than 1 | More than | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total | year | 1-3 years | 3-5 years | 5 years | ||||||||||||||||
Contractual Obligations |
||||||||||||||||||||
Long-Term Debt (1) |
$ | 114,413 | $ | | $ | | $ | 114,413 | $ | | ||||||||||
Long-Term Debt Interest
Payments (2) |
40,045 | 11,441 | 22,883 | 5,721 | | |||||||||||||||
Operating Lease Obligations (1) |
1,151 | 162 | 291 | 247 | 451 | |||||||||||||||