01:44 PM EDT, 07/02/2024 (MT Newswires) -- UBS expects Rogers to report slightly lower volumes but higher margins in both wireless and cable segments, potentially indicating a return to a more rational competitive environment in the near term. Competition (especially through flanker brands) remains intense nationwide in wireless while competition in broadband is more sporadic, depending on the region.

In wireless, UBS is looking for 110K postpaid phone adds (prior UBSe/Q2 2023 170K), while churn remains elevated at +20 bps to 1.07%. Prepaid adds should improve to +35K vs. -8K last year given increased activity in the low-end.

In cable, UBS is looking for 27K broadband adds and 30K video losses, similar to recent trend.

In media, revenue is expected to grow 5%, driven by some improvement in advertising, while EBITDA remains low at $11 million, due to timing of expenses.

"With the anniversary of the Shaw deal, we expect a return to normalized trends with 1.2% revenue and 8% EBITDA growth," writes UBS. The brokerage has largely maintained its 2024 estimates for 8% revenue, 12% EBITDA growth and $3 billion in FCF. Leverage is expected to come down to 4.3x at YE (vs. current 4.7x) and potentially more as $1 billion earmarked for non-core asset sales comes through.

Price: 48.69, Change: -1.91, Percent Change: -3.77