Three-month stock chart for Rogers Communications

Cable and wireless giant Rogers Communications Inc. turned a loss into a profit in the second quarter of 2008 but still missed analysts' estimates by a nickel.

On Tuesday, Rogers said it earned $301 million, or 47 cents a share, for the three months ended June 30. Those results were a marked improvement over the second quarter last year, when the cable, wireless and internet heavyweight lost $56 million, or nine cents a share.

Rogers, however, missed the earnings estimates of industry analysts by five cents, according to the investment service Thompson First Call. The average profit per-share forecast of 16 analysts was pegged at 52 cents a share.

Still, Rogers' chief executive officer, Ted Rogers, said he was pleased with the company's performance in the period.

"The results for the second quarter reflect a good balance of continued healthy subscriber growth, double-digit revenue and operating profit growth, with continued margin expansion," he noted in a statement.

Rogers saw its overall revenue increase by 11 per cent for the quarter. Sales at its wireless business, which represented 54 per cent of the company's total revenue, performed even better, posting a 12 per cent jump to $1.364 billion.

In July, Rogers launched the much-anticipated Apple iPhone in Canada, a move which should be reflected in the company's financials in the coming quarters.

Rogers noted, however, that over the last half of the year, the cost of getting new iPhone subscribers will offset the extra cash the company will gain from the new service.

Overall, Rogers' wireless business was helped by an increase in its average revenue per subscriber. That figure for its wireless subscribers rose by $2.83 in the quarter to $75.48.

In addition, Rogers, which has advertised heavily in an effort to get more basic telephone customers, saw the number of Canadians who use its facilities to make phone calls jump by 41,000 subscriber lines in the period.

That figure, however, actually presented a dip compared to the 69,000 new subscriber lines that Rogers added in the second quarter of 2007.

Rogers had 745,000 voice-over-cable telephone lines in service by the end of the second quarter.

Overall, its cable business, which also includes Rogers' internet offering, saw revenue rise by 11 per cent to $718 million, compared to $646 million for the same period last year.

The class B shares of Rogers finished down $2.59, or almost seven per cent, at $34.96 on the TSX.