Shaw 2009 Annual Report Download - page 5

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Shaw Communications Inc.
REPORT TO SHAREHOLDERS
August 31, 2009
Dear fellow Shareholders:
Despite the challenging economic environment and highly competitive landscape, 2009 was a year
of continued operational and financial growth demonstrating the underlying strength of our
business and resilience of our strategy. Shaw’s strategy is designed to deliver high-quality customer
service, simplicity and value through various bundled service offerings while maintaining a strong
focus on the financial fundamentals of the business.
OUR RESULTS AFFIRM OUR STRATEGY IS SOUND
Our financial results affirm the soundness of our business strategy:
kConsolidated service revenue and consolidated service operating income before
amortization
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each improved 9% to $3.39 billion and $1.54 billion, respectively.
kTotal capital investment increased almost $50 million to over $775 million.
kFree cash flow
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was up 11% to $504 million.
kOur operating margins
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continue to be best-in-class among our North American peers.
kDividends paid to shareholders were up 16% to over $350 million.
CUSTOMERS ARE THE CORNERSTONE OF OUR STRATEGY
A business grows with satisfied customers:
kBasic cable customers increased to 2.29 million and DTH customers grew to over 900,000.
kOur Digital customer base was up 389,000, an increase of over 40% to 1.3 million, driven by
our focus on Digital deployment combined with consumer demand for HDTV.
kWe increased our Internet subscriber base to 1.68 million. Internet penetration continues to
be one of the highest in North America at over 73%.
kDigital Phone lines were up 218,000 to 830,000. Digital Phone service is now available to
over 94% of our Basic customers and penetration rates have reached 38%.
Such growth affirms our longstanding focus on serving the customer. We deliver innovative new
products and services, high levels of reliability, same day/next day installation, service
enhancements, competitive value pricing, and exceptional customer service. Customers are the
cornerstone of our business.
INNOVATION DELIVERS IMPROVED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES FOR CUSTOMERS
Technology, innovation and competition drive us to continually improve and grow. We invest to
upgrade our products and services and build-out our network infrastructure for greater reliability,
speed, ease-of-use and value. Over $775 million was invested in our capital infrastructure during
2009 on system enhancements including upgrades, improvements, innovations, efficiencies and
integrated delivery systems to benefit us today and in the future. For example:
kWe increased internet speeds for our wide range of internet products by 50% and launched a
100 Mbps service using DOCSIS 3.0 technology.
kWe launched a new Digital rental program with a focus on growing our Digital base over the
next several years.
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