Financial and Business Highlights

• Cogent approved an increase of $0.025 per share to its regular quarterly dividend for a total of $0.730 per share for Q4 2020 as compared to $0.705 per share for Q3 2020 – Cogent's thirty-third consecutive quarterly dividend increase
  • The Q4 2020 $0.730 dividend per share represents an annual increase of 14.1% from the dividend per share of $0.640 for Q4 2019.
• Service revenue increased by 0.9% from Q2 2020 to Q3 2020 and increased from Q3 2019 to Q3 2020 by 3.9%.
• GAAP gross profit increased by 7.3% from Q3 2019 to $66.2 million for Q3 2020. Non-GAAP gross profit increased by 7.5% from Q3 2019 to $88.1 million for Q3 2020.
  • GAAP gross margin increased by 150 basis points from Q3 2019 to Q3 2020 to 46.5%. Non-GAAP gross margin increased by 200 basis points from Q3 2019 to Q3 2020 to 61.9%.
• Net cash provided by operating activities was $33.0 million for Q3 2020, $41.3 million for Q2 2020 and $33.4 million for Q3 2019.
• EBITDA margin increased by 60 basis points from Q2 2020 to 38.4% for Q3 2020 and increased by 150 basis points from Q3 2019.
• EBITDA increased by 2.3% from Q2 2020 to $54.6 million for Q3 2020 and increased by 8.1% from Q3 2019.

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CCOI) today announced service revenue of $142.3 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020, an increase of 0.9% from the three months ended June 30, 2020 and an increase of 3.9% from the three months ended September 30, 2019. Foreign exchange positively impacted service revenue growth from the three months ended June 30, 2020 to the three months ended September 30, 2020 by $1.6 million and positively impacted service revenue growth from the three months ended September 30, 2019 to the three months ended September 30, 2020 by $1.1 million. On a constant currency basis, service revenue declined by 0.2% from the three months ended June 30, 2020 to the three months ended September 30, 2020 and grew by 3.1% from the three months ended September 30, 2019 to the three months ended September 30, 2020.

On-net service is provided to customers located in buildings that are physically connected to Cogent's network by Cogent facilities. On-net revenue was $105.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020; an increase of 1.2% from the three months ended June 30, 2020 and an increase of 5.7% over the three months ended September 30, 2019.

Off-net customers are located in buildings directly connected to Cogent's network using other carriers' facilities and services to provide the last mile portion of the link from the customers' premises to Cogent's network. Off-net revenue was $37.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020; an increase of 0.1% over the three months ended June 30, 2020 and a decrease of 0.9% over the three months ended September 30, 2019.

Non-core services are legacy services, which Cogent acquired and continues to support but does not actively sell. Non-core revenue was $119,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2020; a decrease of 18.5% from the three months ended June 30, 2020. Non-core revenue was $108,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2019.

GAAP gross profit is defined as total service revenue less network operations expense, depreciation and amortization and equity based compensation included in network operations expense. GAAP gross margin is defined as GAAP gross profit divided by total service revenue. GAAP gross profit increased by 7.3% from the three months ended September 30, 2019 to $66.2 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020 and decreased by 1.6% from the three months ended June 30, 2020. GAAP gross margin was 46.5% for the three months ended September 30, 2020, 45.0% for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 47.7% for the three months ended June 30, 2020. Excise taxes, including Universal Service Fund fees, recorded on a gross basis and included in service revenue and cost of network operations expense were $3.9 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020, $4.0 million for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and $3.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020.

Non-GAAP gross profit represents service revenue less network operations expense, excluding equity-based compensation and amounts shown separately (depreciation and amortization expense). Non-GAAP gross margin is defined as Non-GAAP gross profit divided by total service revenue. Non-GAAP gross profit increased by 7.5% from the three months ended September 30, 2019 to $88.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020 and increased by 0.8% from the three months ended June 30, 2020. Non-GAAP gross profit margin was 61.9% for the three months ended September 30, 2020, 59.9% for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 62.0% for the three months ended June 30, 2020.

Net cash provided by operating activities decreased by 1.4% from the three months ended September 30, 2019 to $33.0 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020 and decreased by 20.2% from the three months ended June 30, 2020.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 8.1% from the three months ended September 30, 2019 to $54.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020 and increased by 2.3% from the three months ended June 30, 2020. EBITDA margin was 38.4% for the three months ended September 30, 2020, 36.9% for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 37.8% for the three months ended June 30, 2020.

Basic net (loss) income per share was $(0.11) for the three months ended September 30, 2020, $0.30 for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and $0.19 for the three months ended June 30, 2020. Diluted net (loss) income per share was $(0.11) for the three months ended September 30, 2020, $0.30 for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and $0.18 for the three months ended June 30, 2020.

Unrealized foreign exchange (losses) gains on Cogent's 2024 Senior Euro Notes were $(17.3) million for the three months ended September 30, 2020, $6.2 million for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and $(3.4) million for the three months ended June 30, 2020.

Total customer connections increased by 3.3% from 85,692 as of September 30, 2019 to 88,509 as of September 30, 2020 and increased by 0.5% from 88,112 as of June 30, 2020. On-net customer connections increased by 3.3% from 73,870 as of September 30, 2019 to 76,338 as of September 30, 2020 and increased by 0.5% from 75,927 as of June 30, 2020. Off-net customer connections increased by 3.0% from 11,503 as of September 30, 2019 to 11,849 as of September 30, 2020 and off-net customer connections were 11,846 as of June 30, 2020.

The number of on-net buildings increased by 113 buildings from September 30, 2019 to 2,884 on-net buildings as of September 30, 2020 and increased by 30 on-net buildings from June 30, 2020.

Quarterly Dividend Increase Approved

On November 4, 2020, Cogent's Board approved a regular quarterly dividend of $0.730 per common share payable on December 4, 2020 to shareholders of record on November 20, 2020. This fourth quarter 2020 regular dividend represents a 3.5% increase of $0.025 per share from the third quarter 2020 regular dividend of $0.705 per share and an annual increase of 14.1% from the Q4 2019 dividend of $0.640 per share.

The payment of any future dividends and any other returns of capital will be at the discretion of the Board and may be reduced, eliminated or increased and will be dependent upon Cogent's financial position, results of operations, available cash, cash flow, capital requirements, limitations under Cogent's debt indenture agreements and other factors deemed relevant by the Board.

Share Buy-back Program Extension and Stock Purchases

On November 4, 2020, the Board extended Cogent's share buy-back program to December 31, 2021.

During the three months ended September 30, 2020 Cogent purchased 4,567 shares of its common stock for $0.3 million. Subsequent to September 30, 2020, Cogent purchased 53,516 shares of its common stock for $3.1 million.

Impact of COVID-19

Cogent continues to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying responses by governments around the world. Cogent's workforce continues to work remotely with dedication. During the third quarter of 2020, Cogent experienced a decrease in sales productivity as certain new potential customers decided to delay the purchase of services and certain existing and new corporate customers decided to reduce their number of secondary service locations.

The ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related government restrictions on Cogent's business is unknown as a significant amount of uncertainty and volatility remains. Cogent does not know the scope and duration of the pandemic, what actions governments may take in the future in response to the pandemic and what the impact will be on the economies of the world. While Cogent's workforce is working remotely, Cogent provides no assurance that this will be sufficient to protect its workforce or its key employees. Moreover, Cogent's results of operations may be adversely affected in the future as the pandemic and the related government restrictions continue. Cogent may also experience slowdowns in new customer orders, find it difficult to collect from customers who are experiencing financial distress, an increase in customer churn, encounter difficulties accessing the buildings and locations where Cogent installs new services and serves existing customers, or have difficulties procuring, shipping or installing necessary equipment on its network. Cogent may also find that its largest customer base, which is served primarily in its multi-tenant office buildings, may be adversely affected by falling demand for commercial office space in central business districts as companies located in these buildings elect not to return to their office space either on a temporary or even permanent basis. In addition, Cogent's corporate customer base may reduce their overall number of locations due to adverse economic conditions or new working configurations which may adversely affect Cogent's number of corporate connections and service revenues. As a result, the global economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic may have prolonged effects that impact Cogent's business well into the future. These and other risks will be described in more detail in Cogent's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 and are set forth in its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended June 30, 2020 and March 31, 2020.

About Cogent Communications

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ: CCOI) is a multinational, Tier 1 facilities-based ISP. Cogent specializes in providing businesses with high-speed Internet access, Ethernet transport, and colocation services. Cogent's facilities-based, all-optical IP network backbone provides services in over 200 markets globally.

Cogent Communications is headquartered at 2450 N Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20037. For more information, visit www.cogentco.com.