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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, February 6, 2009

HawTel loses $27M in December

By Rick Daysog
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaiian Telcom Inc. and its related companies lost more than $27 million during its first month in bankruptcy.

Filings with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court show that Hawaiian Telcom generated $41.6 million in revenue during the month of December, which is on par with the phone company's pre-bankruptcy revenue levels.

But the company's operating expenses and restructuring-related costs were nearly $67 million, resulting in an overall loss for the month.

Hawaiian Telcom, the state's largest phone company, filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 1, due to its heavy debt load and increased competition from wireless and other providers.

In its filing, the local phone company said it paid $10.8 million in wages and salaries in December while pension-related expenses topped $2 million for the month.

The company listed another $5.2 million in payments to its outside contractors.

Hawaiian Telcom said it spent $2.2 million in bankruptcy-related costs in December.

The company did not make any interest payments to its bondholders, which had been running at a rate of about $4.2 million a month before the bankruptcy. Those payments were suspended after Hawaiian Telcom filed for Chapter 11 protection.

Founded in 1883, Hawaiian Telcom has about 1,400 workers and annual operating revenue of about $500 million.

Hawaiian Telcom was acquired in 2005 by Washington, D.C.-based The Carlyle Group, which paid more than $1.6 billion for the local company. To finance the deal, Carlyle borrowed more than $500 million from banks and floated about $500 million in bonds.

Reach Rick Daysog at rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com.