Charter Communications reported financial and operating results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2015.
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Fourth quarter revenues of $2.5 billion grew 6.4% as compared to the prior-year period, driven by residential revenue growth of 7.2% and commercial revenue growth of 12.3%.
Fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA grew by 7.5% year-over-year. Excluding transition costs of $22 million for Charter's pending transactions, fourth quarter Adjusted EBITDA grew by 8.4% year-over-year.
Full year 2015 revenues increased 7.1% and Adjusted EBITDA rose 6.8%. Excluding transition costs for the pending transactions, 2015 Adjusted EBITDA increased 8.5%.
Capital expenditures totaled $1.840 billion in 2015, down from $2.221 billion in 2014. Excluding transition capital expenditures for the pending transactions, 2015 capital expenditures totaled $1.725 billion.
Full year 2015 free cash flow totaled $547 million, compared to $171 million during the prior-year, driven by higher Adjusted EBITDA and lower capital expenditures, partially offset by over $500 million of transition-specific operating expenses, capital expenditures and cash interest payments associated with transactions-related debt held in escrow.
As of December 31, 2015, Charter served 6.7 million residential and small and medium business (SMB) customers. For the full year 2015, total residential and SMB customers grew by 352,000, or 5.6%.
2015 marks the first full year in over a decade in which Charter grew its total video customers, including 33,000 video net additions in the fourth quarter, and 11,000 for the full year 2015.
For the full year 2015, residential primary service units (PSUs) increased by 5.2%, while SMB PSUs increased by 19.4%, with fourth quarter 2015 residential and SMB PSU net additions growing year-over-year by 26.5% and 47.4%, respectively.
Charter Communications announced that its subsidiaries, CCO Holdings, LLC and CCO Holdings Capital Corp., intend to offer $1.5 billion in aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes due 2024. ■