Shaw 2015 Annual Report Download - page 45

Shaw Communications Inc.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis
August 31, 2015
The Company completed the second phase of the DNU project in the Vancouver region during fiscal 2015. This second phase
converted all remaining video signals to digital and allows the Company to double downstream capacity in the Vancouver market
contributing to an enhanced current network and providing for future bandwidth growth. The Company will continue with its
DNU project through fiscal 2016 focusing on its other larger markets and enhancement projects.
Business Network Services
Financial highlights
(millions of Canadian dollars) 2015 2014
Change
%
Revenue 520 484 7.4
Operating income before restructuring costs and amortization(1) 256 240 6.7
Operating margin(1) 49.2% 49.6% (0.4)pts
(1) Refer to Key performance drivers.
Revenue of $520 million 7.4% over the prior year primarily due to customer growth in both the small, medium and large
enterprise market segments.
Operating income before restructuring costs and amortization of $256 million improved 6.7% over the comparable year due to
higher revenue driven by customer growth, partially offset by various expense increases primarily related to employee hires in
support of operational growth as well as certain administrative costs.
During the current quarter the Company successfully launched a new phone product, “Smart Voice”, which provides a unified
communications solution to small businesses that has typically been reserved for large scale enterprise organizations. This
service improves productivity by allowing employees to collaborate seamlessly across their desk phones, mobile devices and
computers in the office, at a client’s business, from home or anywhere in between. In addition the Company also launched
“Managed Hotel WiFi” utilizing proven Cisco technology to provide a cloud based WiFi product that is a fully managed solution
for the hospitality market.
Business Infrastructure Services
Financial highlights
(millions of Canadian dollars) 2015
Revenue 246
Operating income before restructuring costs and amortization(1) 95
Operating margin(1) 38.6%
(1) Refer to Key performance drivers.
On September 2, 2014, the Company acquired ViaWest, then one of the largest privately held providers of hybrid IT solutions in
North America. Through this acquisition Shaw gained significant capabilities, scale and immediate expertise in the growing
marketplace for enterprise data services.
Revenue for the year was $246 million while operating income before restructuring costs and amortization was $95 million. For
information purposes, on a USD basis and excluding the impact of acquisition related costs, operating income before
restructuring costs and amortization grew 10.6% on a full year basis over the comparable period.
ViaWest continues to experience solid demand for its hybrid IT solutions and cloud services and recently announced the launch
of cloud recovery service enabling cloud-based backup and replication to further serve the growing IT infrastructure needs of
existing and future customers. During the fourth quarter, ViaWest acquired AppliedTrust, which provides managed services with
2015 Annual Report Shaw Communications Inc. 43