First Communications, Inc. Announces Audited Results for the Year Ended December 31, 2009

Today First Communications, Inc. (AIM: FCOM) (the “Company”), a leading Midwest competitive local exchange carrier providing data and voice services, announces the following developments

Akron, OH (PRWEB) May 8, 2010 -- Today First Communications, Inc. (AIM: FCOM) (the “Company”), a leading Midwest competitive local exchange carrier providing data and voice services, announces the following developments:

Finalization of its December 31, 2009 financial statements, as audited by its independent accountants; An increase in EBITDA to $14.1 million in 2009, up from $0.8 million in 2008; The sale of $15.0 million of its minority owned equity in Diamond Communications Holdings LLC, (“Diamond”); and The extension of its credit facility (the “Facility”) to March 31, 2012.

The Company confirms that it has today posted its audited financials to its shareholders and that these audited financials will shortly be available on its website.

...We also finished the first of a three year capital project in lighting and expanding our expansive fiber network. The continued double digit growth in bandwidth demand has placed a premium on many of our unique fiber routes...

Discussion of 2009 Results

Items of note in the year ended December 31, 2009 results:

Revenues for 2009 of $173.6 million (compared to $153.5 million for 2008); Increase in gross margin percentage from 30.6% to 38.4% from 2008 to 2009; EBITDA (as defined below) of $14.1 million for 2009, compared to $0.8 million for 2008; and Higher net income primarily resulting from higher EBITDA as discussed above and the gain associated with the Tower Asset Contribution discussed in the footnotes to the audited financial statements.

Note: The results for the year 2008 include a full 12 month contribution from First Communications, LLC (“FC LLC”), and Xtension Services, Inc. ("Xtensions"), and just over 9 months contribution from First Telecom Services, LLC (“FTS”) and a 3 months contribution from First Global Telecom, Inc. (“Globalcom”). Additionally, the 2009 financial statements include $5.8 million of revenue and $3.7 million in EBITDA earned from the towers assets before the contribution thereof on August 20, 2009 to an affiliate of Diamond.

EBITDA is defined herein as net income (loss) before depreciation and amortization, impairment of goodwill and other intangibles, interest expense, and provision for (benefit from) income taxes, and before a one-time gain related to the Company’s 2009 Contributed Assets and related financing as discussed in the footnotes to the audited financial statements.

Selected Financial Information

(Please see “First Communications, Inc. Selected Financial Information” chart located to the right of this page.)

Operational Highlights and Current Outlook:

Ray Hexamer, CEO of First Communications commented:

“After a disappointing year in 2008, we made significant progress in 2009’s difficult economic environment by realigning our resources while investing in new product and sales resources. We also finished the first of a three year capital project in lighting and expanding our expansive fiber network. The continued double digit growth in bandwidth demand has placed a premium on many of our unique fiber routes throughout the Midwest and Northeast.

A primary goal of 2009 was reducing the financial leverage of the business and providing adequate liquidity for our fiber expansion. That was accomplished through the contribution of our tower business, discussed in the footnotes to our audited financial statements, along with the expansion of EBITDA.

2009 operating highlights include the following:

Added 968 new route miles to our expansive fiber network and completed the low latency core network from Chicago to New York; Core growth revenue as a percentage of total revenue (excluding wholesale revenues) grew from 50% in Q1 to 61.8% in Q4 of 2009; and Added Lyle Patrick as our CFO and key personnel to bolster our finance department.

With the above results setting a stage for further cash flow momentum in 2010, we plan to continue to execute on our plan of growing core revenues in our key Midwest markets while deploying discretionary capital into our fiber network as it becomes a more substantial contributing segment of our Company.”

About First Communications
First Communications is a leading integrated telecommunications carrier based in the Midwestern United States. Founded in 1998, First Communications has built a highly reliable fiber-based infrastructure which it uses to provide small and medium business, enterprise, and carrier customers superior voice, internet, and transport services. First Communications’ mission is to provide secure and reliable next-generation services that support the critical communications needs of its commercial customers. For more information visit First Communications on the Internet: http://www.firstcomm.com

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