Rogers expects its free cash flow to grow by between about $745-million and $945-million this year.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Rogers Communications Inc. RCI-B-T posted higher revenue and a 72-per-cent increase to net income in its first quarter, while updating its guidance for 2026 to reflect significantly lower expected capital expenditures and higher free cash flow for the year.
Speaking with analysts Wednesday morning, Rogers chief executive officer Tony Staffieri said the updated guidance was the result of cancelling projects that are no longer economical for the company, deferring other planned spending and continuing capital-efficiency improvements.
The Toronto-based company said it now expects its capital expenditures for the year to fall by between $1-billion and $1.2-billion, compared with 2025 capital expenses of $3.7-billion. In January, it estimated a decline of between $200-million and $400-million.
Meanwhile, Rogers anticipates its free cash flow will grow this year by between about $745-million and $945-million from $3.3-billion in 2025. In January, it had estimated free cash flow would remain flat or grow by just $144-million.
TD Cowen analyst Vince Valentini called the quarter a “surprising beat” in a note to investors Wednesday morning, noting the “big and unexpected” changes to guidance.
Desjardins analyst Jérome Dubreuil called the results positive. “High spending amid challenging monetization conditions has been a common investor pushback in the last few years, and the meaningful capex reduction–if sustainable–should be well-received,” he said.
Meanwhile, the company reiterated it is moving forward with plans to acquire the outstanding 25-per-cent portion of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment from Kilmer Sports Inc., this year.
“We are targeting later this year to complete our purchase,” chief financial officer Glenn Brandt told analysts, “followed by plans to complete the recapitalization of our sports and media group in late 2026 or early 2027 as we pursue minority equity investors.”
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Mr. Staffieri said Rogers estimates the consolidated sports portfolio – including the entirety of MLSE and its existing sports assets, such as the Toronto Blue Jays – is worth “in excess of $25-billion,” and that the company plans to use proceeds of a minority sale to pay down debt.
Previously, executives had said they believed the combined assets are worth $20-billion.
Analysts believe the transaction is likely to include private equity investors as partners.
Earlier this month, Rogers announced that Rogers Sports and Media president Colette Watson is departing from her role after more than 30 years at the company. Her last day will be May 15. The company has not yet said who will take over her role.
Rogers posted revenue of $5.4-billion for the first quarter, up 10 per cent over last year and meeting analyst expectations.
The quarter includes the results and revenue from MLSE, which were not consolidated last year. Media revenues were $988-million, up 82 per cent from last year, primarily as a result of revenue from MLSE.
Net income was $482-million, up from $280-million last year. This was primarily the result of lower finance costs and higher earnings.
Wireless revenue and cable revenue were both stable.
Rogers partners with T-Mobile to expand satellite coverage to U.S.
The telecom and media company added 33,000 net mobile phone subscribers in the quarter, down from 34,000 last year, but much higher than analyst consensus of 9,000.
It added fewer net retail internet customers than last year, and lost 32,000 linear television subscribers, the same as last year and more than analyst of 27,000.
The company saw its average revenue per user – a metric used in the industry to represent the value of a customer – decline by 2.3 per cent in the quarter.
In early April, shares of all of Canada’s public telecom companies fell as a result of analyst concerns over ongoing competition in mobile pricing. Canada’s federal Parliamentary Budget Officer expects Canada’s population growth to be flat for a second year in 2026, requiring telecom companies to turn to discounts and promotional pricing to attract customers.
Overall, shares of Rogers before markets opened Wednesday were up 27 per cent from the same time last year, but down 7 per cent from the beginning of 2026.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Rogers previously estimated a decline in capital expenses of between $200-million and $5-million in 2026. The range was between $200-million and $400-million.