Charter Cable High Speed Internet News Charter Reports Preliminary Financial and Operating Results for Fourth-Quarter 2006

Fourth quarter results reflect double digit revenues and adjusted EBITDA growth on a pro forma basis

February 09, 2007 — ST. LOUIS — Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) (along with its subsidiaries, the “Company” or “Charter”) today announced preliminary results for the fourth quarter of 2006. The Company released these preliminary, unaudited results based upon information available to date because Charter expects to be providing this information to certain potential investors in proposed new credit facilities in conjunction with the refinancing and expansion of its existing credit facilities announced earlier today. Certain financial comparisons are made on a pro forma basis, adjusted for the acquisition of cable systems in January 2006 and the sales of certain cable systems in July 2005 and the third quarter of 2006 as if they occurred on January 1, 2005. However, all transactions completed in January 2006 and the third quarter of 2006 have been reflected in the operating statistic comparisons.

Charter currently expects revenues for the fourth quarter of 2006 of $1.413 billion, which represents an increase of approximately 11.7% compared to the same period in 2005 on a pro forma basis, and an increase of approximately 9.8% on an actual basis. Charter currently expects adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2006 to be approximately $503 million, an increase of approximately 10.3% compared to the same period in 2005 on a pro forma basis, and an increase of approximately 7.9% compared to 2005 on an actual basis. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP term; see the “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Metrics” section below for a definition of this term and additional information.

Operating expenses increased by approximately $89 million, or 10.8%, in the fourth quarter of 2006 compared to the fourth quarter of 2005 on an actual basis, due in large part to increased programming expense from annual rate increases and higher volumes of advanced services purchases, as well as expenditures to support higher rates of customer growth and retention related to Charter’s accelerated telephone roll out.

Charter currently expects annual revenues will increase 10.0% compared to pro forma 2005, and pro forma adjusted EBITDA will increase 5.3% compared to pro forma 2005. The Company expects actual annual revenues to be approximately $5.504 billion, an increase of 9.4% compared to 2005, and adjusted EBITDA to be approximately $1.941 billion, an increase of 4.5% compared to 2005.

“These preliminary results reflect continued momentum in growing revenues and adjusted EBITDA,” said Neil Smit, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We’re pleased with customer acceptance as we’ve deployed telephone service more broadly and marketed it in attractive bundled offers with our video and high-speed Internet services. Pro forma revenues and adjusted EBITDA growth improved during each quarter of 2006 as we made progress in establishing more long-term customer relationships”

Charter added 162,400 revenue generating units (RGUs) during the fourth quarter of 2006, up from 138,200 in the fourth quarter of 2005. Charter added 277,000, or 64%, more RGUs during 2006 than 2005. Nearly 40% of Charter’s customers subscribe to a bundle, an increase of 18% from fourth quarter 2005. Approximately 94% of Charter’s telephone customers subscribe to a bundle, with 73% of them in a three product bundle, as of December 31, 2006. Charter’s bundled marketing of services contributed to a 13% increase in pro forma average monthly revenue per analog video customer compared to fourth quarter 2005.

Fourth quarter expected RGU additions consisted of the following:

• Fourth quarter 2006 net losses of analog video customers were approximately 43,300 compared to a pro forma net loss of approximately 16,700 in the fourth quarter of 2005;
• Fourth quarter 2006 net gains of digital video customers were approximately 40,500 compared to a pro forma net gain of approximately 49,800 in the fourth quarter of 2005;
• Fourth quarter 2006 net gains of high-speed Internet customers were approximately 59,000 compared to a pro forma net gain of approximately 73,800 in the fourth quarter of 2005; and
• Fourth quarter 2006 net gains of telephone customers were approximately 106,200, reflecting over a 30% increase in telephone customers during the quarter, compared to a pro forma net gain of approximately 31,300 in the fourth quarter of 2005. Telephone homes passed were approximately 6.8 million as of December 31, 2006.

Capital expenditures for the fourth quarter of 2006 are currently expected to be approximately $308 million, which would be higher than capital expenditures of $273 million during the same quarter in the prior year. Capital expenditures for the full year 2006 are expected to be approximately $1.103 billion, compared to $1.088 billion in 2005. Approximately 75% of Charter’s 2006 capital expenditures were success-based, up from 68% in 2005. During 2007, Charter expects capital expenditures to be approximately $1.2 billion.

As of December 31, 2006, Charter had $19.062 billion in long-term debt, including $5.395 billion in credit facilities at Charter Communications Operating, LLC. Charter earlier today announced the initiation of a syndication to refinance and expand its senior credit facilities. Upon completion of the syndication process and the closing of this transaction, the Company expects to have adequate liquidity to fund its operations and service its debt through 2008.

Because the fourth quarter has only recently ended, the information in this release is, by necessity, preliminary in nature and based only upon preliminary, unaudited information available to Charter as of the date of this release. Investors should be aware that the information in this release is subject to change upon the release of Charter’s audited results and therefore should exercise caution in relying on the information in this release. Information regarding certain financial performance measures not discussed in this release is not provided because the fourth quarter has only recently ended and final estimates of certain items used in the calculations of such measures are not yet available. Investors should not draw any inferences from this information regarding financial or operating data that is not discussed in this release.

Charter will announce complete financial and operating results on Wednesday, February 28, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) and will host a conference call to discuss these results at 9:00 a.m. ET that same day.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Metrics

Charter uses certain measures that are not defined by GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) to evaluate various aspects of its business. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure and should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, net cash flows from operating activities reported in accordance with GAAP. These terms as defined by Charter may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as income from operations before special charges, non-cash depreciation and amortization, gain/loss on sale or retirement of assets, asset impairment charges and option compensation expense. As such, it eliminates the significant non-cash depreciation and amortization expense that results from the capital-intensive nature of Charter’s businesses and intangible assets recognized in business combinations as well as other non-cash or non-recurring items, and is unaffected by Charter’s capital structure or investment activities. Adjusted EBITDA is a liquidity measure used by Charter’s management and the Board of Directors to measure Charter’s ability to fund operations and its financing obligations. For this reason, it is a significant component of Charter’s annual incentive compensation program. However, this measure is limited in that it does not reflect the periodic costs of certain capitalized tangible and intangible assets used in generating revenues and the cash cost of financing. Charter’s management evaluates these costs through other financial measures.

Charter believes that adjusted EBITDA provides information useful to investors in assessing Charter’s ability to service its debt, fund operations, and make additional investments with internally generated funds. In addition, adjusted EBITDA generally correlates to the leverage ratio calculation under its credit facilities or outstanding notes to determine compliance with the covenants contained in the facilities and notes (all such documents have been previously filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission). Adjusted EBITDA and pro forma adjusted EBITDA, as presented, are reduced for management fees in the amounts of $33 million and $31 million for the three months ended December 31, 2006 and 2005, respectively, which amounts are added back for the purposes of calculating compliance with leverage covenants.

About Charter Communications

Charter Communications, Inc. is a leading broadband communications company and the third-largest publicly traded cable operator in the United States. Charter provides a full range of advanced broadband services, including advanced Charter Digital(R) video entertainment programming, Charter High-Speed(TM) Internet access service, and Charter Telephone(TM) services. Charter Business(TM) similarly provides scalable, tailored and cost-effective broadband communications solutions to business organizations, such as business-to-business Internet access, data networking, video and music entertainment services and business telephone. Charter’s advertising sales and production services are sold under the Charter Media(R) brand. More information about Charter can be found at www.charter.com.

SOURCE: Charter Communications, Inc.