Rogers 2015 Annual Report Download - page 41

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
Our sales team sells Business Solutions services to Canadian
business and public sector telecommunications customers. An
extensive network of third-party channel distributors deals with IT
integrators, consultants, local service providers, and other indirect
sales relationships. This diverse approach gives greater breadth of
coverage and allows for strong sales growth for next generation
services.
FIRST CLASS MEDIA CONTENT
We deliver highly sought-after sports content enhanced by the
following initiatives:
• an exclusive national 12-year agreement with the NHL, which
began with the 2014-2015 NHL season and allows us to deliver
unprecedented coverage of North American professional
hockey across television, smartphones, tablets, and the Internet;
• Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE, an upgraded online destination
for enhancing NHL action on any screen;
• NHL GamePlus, an innovative and interactive experience within
Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE that includes revolutionary
camera angles, exclusive interviews and analysis, and original
video-on-demand content;
• Rogers Hometown Hockey Tour, which brings hockey-themed
festivities and outdoor viewing parties to 24 communities across
Canada over the 2015-2016 NHL season;
• the MLB Network, a 24-hour network dedicated to baseball,
brought to Canada for the first time on Rogers digital cable;
• an 8-year, multi-platform broadcast rights agreement with MLB
Properties and MLB Advanced Media to show live and in-
progress games and highlights within Canada through 2021;
• a 10-year multi-platform agreement that commenced in August
2014, which makes Rogers the exclusive wholesaler and a
distributor of World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) flagship
programming in Canada;
• exclusive broadcasting and distribution rights of the Toronto
Blue Jays through our ownership of the team; and
• exclusive Canadian English language broadcast and mobile
rights for the highly anticipated 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
ENGAGED PEOPLE
For our team of approximately 26,000 employees, we strive to
create a great workplace, focusing on all aspects of the employee
experience, which include:
• engaging employees and building high-performing teams
through initiatives including engagement surveys and leadership
development programs;
• aiming to attract and retain top talent through effective training
and development, performance-driven employee recognition
programs, and career progression programs for front-line
employees;
• maintaining our commitment to diversity and inclusion; and
• providing a safe, collaborative, and agile workplace that provides
employees the tools and training to be successful.
FINANCIAL STRENGTH AND FLEXIBILITY
We have an investment-grade balance sheet, conservative debt
leverage, and substantial available liquidity of $3.3 billion as at
December 31, 2015. Our capital resources consist primarily of cash
provided by operating activities, cash and cash equivalents,
available lines of credit, funds available under our accounts
receivable securitization program, and issuances of long-term debt.
We also own approximately $966 million of marketable equity
securities in publicly traded companies as at December 31, 2015.
The following information is forward-looking and should be read in
conjunction with “About Forward-Looking Information”, “Financial
and Operating Guidance”, “Risks and Uncertainties Affecting Our
Business”, and our other disclosures about various economic,
competitive, and regulatory assumptions, factors, and risks that
could cause our actual future financial and operating results to
differ from those currently expected.
Similar to 2015, we anticipate generating a net cash surplus in 2016
from our cash provided by operating activities. We expect that we
will have sufficient capital resources to satisfy our cash funding
requirements in 2016, including the funding of dividends on our
common shares, repayment of maturing long-term debt, and other
financing activities, investing activities, and other requirements. This
takes into account our opening cash balance, cash provided by
operating activities, the amount available under our $3.5 billion
bank credit facilities, our accounts receivable securitization
program, and funds available to us from the issuance of other bank,
publicly issued, or private placement debt from time to time. As at
December 31, 2015, there were no significant restrictions on the
flow of funds between Rogers and its subsidiary companies.
We believe we can satisfy foreseeable additional funding
requirements by issuing additional debt financing, which,
depending on market conditions, could include restructuring our
existing bank credit and letter of credit facilities, or entering into
new bank credit facilities, issuing public or private debt, amending
the terms of our accounts receivable securitization program, or
issuing equity. We may also opportunistically refinance a portion of
existing debt depending on market conditions and other factors.
There is no assurance, however, that these financing initiatives will
or can be done as they become necessary.
HEALTHY TRADING VOLUMES AND
DIVIDENDS
Our Class B Non-Voting common shares actively trade on the TSX
and NYSE with a combined average daily trading volume of
approximately 1.6 million shares. In addition, our Class A Voting
common shares trade on the TSX. Dividends are the same on both
classes of shares. In 2015, each share paid an annualized dividend
of $1.92.
2015 ANNUAL REPORT ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS INC. 39