Exhibit 99.1 May 6, 2004 John Lowber, (907) 868-5628; jlowber@gci.com Bruce Broquet, (907) 868-6660; bbroquet@gci.com David Morris, (907) 265-5396; dmorris@gci.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE GCI REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2004 FINANCIAL RESULTS o Consolidated revenue of $108.9 million o Net income of $1.9 million or $0.02 per diluted share o EBITDA, as adjusted of $35.2 million o Issued $250 million in 7.25 percent bonds ANCHORAGE, AK -- GCI (NASDAQ:GNCMA) today reported net income of $1.9 million, or earnings per diluted share of $0.02, for the first quarter of 2004. The company's first quarter net income compares to income of $2.6 million, or earnings per diluted share of $0.04 after the cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle of $0.5 million or $(0.01) per share on a diluted basis, net of income tax benefit, in the same period of 2003. GCI's first quarter 2004 revenues totaled $108.9 million, an increase of 17.3 percent over first quarter 2003 revenues of $92.8 million. For the current quarter, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and accretion (EBITDA) totaled $35.2 million, as adjusted, to exclude $6.1 million in bond premiums paid in connection with refinancing $180 million of 9.75 percent bonds. First quarter 2004 EBITDA increased $6.3 million or 21.8 percent over the same quarter in 2003. First quarter 2003 EBITDA totaled $28.9 million. Sequentially, revenues for the company increased 4.9 percent over fourth quarter 2003 revenues of $103.8 million. GCI's first quarter EBITDA of $35.2 million, as adjusted, compares to EBITDA of $36.5 million, as adjusted, in the fourth quarter of 2003. For the first quarter 2004, GCI exceeded both its revenue and EBITDA guidance. The company provided guidance for revenues of approximately $100 million to $102 million, and approximately $29 million to $30 million of EBITDA. During the quarter, GCI recorded approximately $6.8 million in project revenues and Universal Service Fund revenues not included in the guidance. EBITDA guidance excluded any benefit from a credit against future services to be purchased from MCI. GCI recorded a benefit of approximately $1.2 million relating to the use of the MCI credit during the quarter. "GCI's first quarter is a solid start on the year and positions us to report another year of record total revenues and EBITDA in 2004," said Ron Duncan, GCI president. "We own the best collection of assets in Alaska and as a result GCI can offer our customers the most competitive package of services in the Alaska market. Our financial results reflect strong customer acceptance of our unique offerings." "We are on track for 2004. We expect second quarter revenues of approximately $103 million to $105 million and EBITDA of approximately $31 million, excluding the effects of any receivable recovery from MCI." We are maintaining our guidance for total revenues of $410 million to $420 million and EBITDA of $129 million to $134 million, before any benefit from credits against future services to be purchased from MCI." Customer Highlights o The local services business added 2,500 access lines during the first quarter and now serves 108,600 local lines, an estimated 23 percent share of the total access line market in Alaska. o GCI had 100,600 statewide Internet customers at the end of first quarter of 2004, an increase of 4,900 subscribers as compared with 95,700 at the end of 2003. At the end of the first quarter of 2004, more than 51,700 of these Internet customers are using GCI cable modem service, an increase of 5,700 over the fourth quarter of 2003. The number of customers served on GCI's statewide dial-up Internet platform decreased during the first quarter as more customers continue to migrate to cable modems. o GCI cable television services now pass 203,353 homes and serve 133,981 basic subscribers. Basic subscribers decreased sequentially by 369 subscribers from the fourth quarter of 2003. The decrease in subscribers is primarily attributable to continued competition from satellite providers with local channels. o Long-distance billable minutes increased 16.5 percent to 301.7 million minutes for the first quarter as compared to the same quarter of 2003, and decreased 0.9 percent sequentially. Long Distance Results For the first quarter of 2004, long distance revenues totaled $65.9 million as compared to revenues of $56.3 million in the first quarter of 2003 and $61.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2003. Long distance revenues increased 17.1 percent year-over-year and 7.3 percent sequentially. The increases were attributed to an increase in managed services, primarily from the recognition of $6.1 million of project revenues, and expected growth from private line and dedicated data services revenues. Switched minutes revenues were relatively flat year-over-year due primarily to a substantial increase in minutes offset by lower rates per minute. Sequentially, switched minutes revenues decreased 3.5 percent from fewer minutes carried on the company's network, along with slightly lower rates. Long distance EBITDA, as adjusted, increased 16.7 percent for the first quarter of 2004 to $21.7 million as compared to $18.6 million in the first quarter of the prior year and $23.2 million, as adjusted, in the fourth quarter of 2003. Sequential EBITDA decreased $0.5 million after excluding the MCI bad debt recoveries of $1.2 million in the first quarter of 2004 and $2.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2003. Total minutes-of-use are up 16.5 percent in the first quarter of 2004 when compared to the first quarter of 2003. Sequentially, minutes-of-use are down 0.9 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2003. The year-over-year increase in minutes is attributable to the improving "lower 48" economy, including an increase in minutes carried for other common carriers. The total number of billed long distance customers increased 0.5 percent when customer counts are compared between March 2004 and December 2003. Cable Television Results Cable television revenues for the first quarter increased 6.4 percent to $24.9 million from $23.4 million in the first quarter of 2003, and were down slightly from $25.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2003. EBITDA of $11.0 million for the first quarter of 2004 increased 3.8 percent from the first quarter of 2003, and was steady compared to $11.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2003. The increase in revenues and EBITDA year-over-year is due primarily to the increase in sales of digital special interest cable television and cable modem services. Gross margins, as a percentage of revenues, decreased by 87 basis points year-over-year and 220 basis points sequentially. The growth rate from digital special interest services and cable modems is helping to mitigate the effects of continuing increases in programming and copyright costs. As of March 31, 2004, the company's cable television operations passed 203,353 homes and served 133,981 basic subscribers (108,180 equivalent basic subscribers). For the first quarter, average revenue per equivalent basic subscriber was $76.58, an increase of 10.2 percent when compared to the first quarter 2003 average revenue of $69.49. Sequentially, average revenue was up 0.3 percent, from $76.34, over the fourth quarter of 2003. Basic subscribers decreased sequentially by 369 subscribers from the fourth quarter of 2003. This compares with an increase of 228 subscribers in first quarter of 2003 over the fourth quarter of 2002. The decrease in subscribers is attributable, in part, to increased competition with satellite providers that now offer local programming. During the first quarter of 2004 GCI launched several new service packages designed to compete aggressively with the satellite provider's offerings. The customer response to these packages has been very strong. The company offers digital special interest (DSI) cable television service in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Kenai, Soldotna, Ketchikan and the Mat-Su Valley area. GCI served 34,000 DSI customers at the end of the first quarter of 2004, a decrease of 900 customers compared to the fourth quarter of 2003. The sequential decrease in DSI customers was due to the heavy promotion of the service in the fall of 2003, which caused a temporary peak in the number of DSI subscribers. GCI, along with the other largest publicly traded multiple system operators, signed a pledge to support and adhere to new voluntary reporting guidelines on common operating statistics to provide investors and others with a better understanding of the company's operations. The operating statistics below include capital expenditures and customer information from cable services and the components of our local services and Internet services utilizing our cable services' facilities. GCI's capital expenditures by standard reporting category for the three-months ending March 31, 2004 and 2003 follow (amounts in thousands): 2004 2003 ------------ ----------- Customer premise equipment $ 3,438 1,276 Commercial 47 68 Scalable infrastructure 1,755 135 Line extensions 44 88 Upgrade/rebuild 1,770 72 Support capital 181 77 ------------ ----------- Sub-total 7,235 1,716 Remaining reportable segments and All Other capital expenditures 17,966 4,758 ------------ ----------- $ 25,201 6,474 ============ =========== The standard definition of a customer relationship is the number of customers who receive at least one level of service, encompassing voice, video, and data services, without regard to which services customers purchase. These relationships do not include local telephone customers except those served by the cable television plant. At March 31, 2004 and 2003, GCI's cable business had 122,100 and 124,000 customer relationships, respectively. The standard definition of a revenue-generating unit is the sum of all primary analog video, digital video, high-speed data and telephony customers, not counting additional outlets. At March 31, 2004 and 2003, GCI's cable business had 185,800 and 173,300 revenue generating units, respectively. The increase in the revenue generating units of 5,400 and 12,500 from December 31, 2003 and March 31, 2003, respectively, is due to an increase in the number of cable modem customers. Local Telephone Results For the first quarter 2004, local telephone service revenues totaled $11.8 million, an increase of 40.5 percent, when compared to $8.4 million in the first quarter of 2003. Sequentially, revenue was steady at $11.8 million. The increase in year-over-year revenues is attributable to increasing customer counts and universal service fund revenues. In the first quarter, local services generated $0.6 million of EBITDA, an improvement of $1.8 million over the $1.2 million loss in the first quarter of 2003. Sequentially, the first quarter EBITDA was slightly less than the $0.7 million EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2003. If the local telephone business received credit for access cost savings on calls placed by GCI long distance customers who are also GCI local customers, the company's local telephone business would have reported EBITDA of $2.3 million in the first quarter of 2004. At the end of the first quarter of 2004, GCI provided local service to approximately 108,600 access lines statewide. This represents an increase of 2,500 access lines, or 2.4 percent, over the 106,100 access lines reported at the end of the fourth quarter of 2003. The company estimates it has attained a 23 percent share of the total access line market in Alaska. Approximately 85 percent of GCI's access lines are provisioned on its own facilities or on resold local loops. In early April 2004, GCI began converting customers to its Digital Local Phone Service (DLPS) technology. The roll out of DLPS will enable GCI to avoid wholesale and loop rental costs from local phone lines leased from the incumbent local exchange carrier. GCI plans to provision 8,000 to 12,000 DLPS lines by the end of 2004. Internet Access Results Internet access revenues for the first quarter of 2004 totaled $6.4 million, an increase of 39.1 percent year-over-year and 16.4 percent sequentially. First quarter 2003 revenues were $4.6 million and fourth quarter 2003 revenues were $5.5 million. EBITDA for the first quarter totaled $1.9 million, an improvement of $0.9 million year-over-year and $0.3 million sequentially. First quarter 2003 EBITDA was $1.0 million and fourth quarter 2003 EBITDA was $1.6 million. The increase in Internet access revenues and EBITDA results from more customers served, including the State of Alaska, the migration of existing customers from dial-up to cable modem access and customers adding more features and services, increasing economies of scale and effective operating controls. At the end of the first quarter of 2004, GCI had 100,600 statewide Internet customers, an increase of 4,900 customers sequentially and 8,800 year-over-year. GCI's statewide Internet customers included 51,700 subscribers using cable modem access. This represents an increase of 5,700 subscribers, or 12.4 percent, over the prior quarter's subscriber count of 46,000. On a year-over-year basis, GCI experienced a 33.9 percent increase in cable modem subscribers, from 38,600, over the first quarter of 2003. GCI began offering Internet access services during 1998 and its dial-up Internet service is offered in most major Alaska markets. GCI is the largest Internet access provider in Alaska. Other Items During the three months ending March 31, 2004, core capital expenditures decreased to $14.9 million as compared to $16.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2003. Additionally, GCI spent $10.3 million relating to its new undersea fiber. GCI generated approximately $2.6 million of free cash flow during the first quarter before bond redemption expenses and repayment of approximately $54.0 million of senior debt from the remaining proceeds of its refinancing of $180 million of 9.75 percent senior notes with the issuance of $250 million of 7.25 percent senior notes. GCI will hold a conference call to discuss the quarter's results on Friday, May 7, 2004 beginning at 2 p.m. (Eastern). To access the briefing on May 7, dial 888-989-5305 (international callers should dial 712-257-0003) and identify your call as "GCI." In addition to the conference call, GCI will make available net conferencing. To access the call via net conference, log on to www.gci.com and follow the instructions. A reply of the call will be available for 72-hours by dialing 800-879-9497, access code 7461 (international callers should dial 402-220-5353.) GCI is the largest Alaska-based and operated integrated telecommunications provider. A pioneer in bundled services, GCI provides local, wireless, and long distance telephone, cable television, Internet and data communication services throughout Alaska. More information about the company can be found at www.gci.com. The foregoing contains forward-looking statements regarding the company's expected results that are based on management's expectations as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events. Actual results might differ materially from those projected in the forward looking statements due to uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside GCI's control. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward looking statements is contained in GCI's cautionary statement sections of Form 10-K and 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. # # #