Consolidated Communications Holdings Reports Second Quarter 2010 Results

• Continued solid operating cash flow and dividend payout ratio.
• Total connections increase for third consecutive quarter.
• Year over year access line losses improved by 54%.
• Cash on hand increased by $33.5 million year over year.

MATTOON, Ill., Aug. 5, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:CNSL) reported results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2010.

Second quarter financial summary:

• Revenue was $95.7 million.
• Net cash provided by operations was $31.3 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA was $46.0 million.
• Dividend payout ratio was 70.6%.

"I am pleased with our results for the second quarter," said Bob Currey, president and CEO. "We continued to deliver a comfortable dividend payout ratio for our shareholders while making investments to grow the business. These investments helped us generate our third consecutive quarter of growth in total customer connections and an increase of over 4,100 in the last year."

"Our broadband products grew by 2,500 during the quarter with increases of 1,300 and 1,200 for DSL and IPTV, respectively. Our subscriber retention efforts resulted in access line losses of 1.0% for the quarter and 4.8% over the last twelve months. This is the best year over year line loss rate in two and a half years and demonstrates the power of our bundled offerings," Currey concluded.

Operating Statistics at June 30, 2010, Compared to June 30, 2009.

	Period Ended June 30,
	2010	2009	Increase/(decrease)	%
Local access lines	242,282	254,593	(12,311)	(4.8)%
DSL subscribers	103,428	95,656	7,772	8.1%
IPTV subscribers	26,074	19,731	6,343	32.1%
ILEC VOIP lines	8,605	7,883	722	9.2%
CLEC access line equivalents	73,686	72,062	1,624	2.3%
Total connections	454,075	449,925	4,150	0.9%

Cash Available to Pay Dividends

For the quarter, cash available to pay dividends, or CAPD, was $16.4 million and the dividend payout ratio was 70.6%. At June 30, 2010, cash and cash equivalents were $53.6 million, a $33.5 million increase from the second quarter of 2009. The Company made capital expenditures of $10.9 million during the quarter.