Optimum says prior financials can’t be relied on after deferred-tax restatement

Optimum Communications, Inc. said its Audit Committee concluded on September 16, 2026 that previously issued consolidated financial statements for fiscal 2025 and three interim periods should no longer be relied upon. The company plans restatements after finding it failed to recognize non-cash deferred tax benefits tied to earlier cable franchise-rights impairments. It said the corrections will cut previously reported net losses by about $430 million for 2025 periods and about $720 million for early-2026 periods, without changing cash, revenue, capital spending, cash flow, EBITDA, or loss before income taxes.

In a Form 8-K filed September 21, 2026, Optimum attributed the non-reliance decision to understatements of deferred tax benefits and overstatements of a related deferred tax liability after it failed to recognize non-cash deferred tax benefits tied to two earlier indefinite-lived cable franchise-rights impairments. The company also said it intends to restate the corresponding consolidated financial statements of wholly owned subsidiary CSC Holdings, LLC.

What the Audit Committee decided

Optimum said the Audit Committee, in consultation with management, determined that certain previously issued consolidated financial statements — and related earnings releases, shareholder communications, and investor materials that described relevant portions of those statements — should no longer be relied upon.

The filing states that Optimum inadvertently failed to recognize non-cash deferred tax benefits associated with two previous non-cash impairment charges on indefinite-lived cable franchise rights. That accounting miss is the disclosed root of the restatement plan.

Periods and approximate impact

The non-reliance covers the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025 in the company’s Form 10-K, including the associated audit report from KPMG LLP, and the unaudited statements in Forms 10-Q for the periods ended September 30, 2025, March 31, 2026, and June 30, 2026.

Optimum said the restatements are expected to reduce previously reported net losses by correcting understatements of deferred tax benefits and overstatements of a related deferred tax liability of approximately $430 million for the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2025 and for the year ended December 31, 2025, and approximately $720 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 and the six-month period ended June 30, 2026. Those adjustments are also expected to affect total liabilities, accumulated deficit, and total stockholders’ deficiency.

What does not change — and controls

The company stated the restatement will not affect previously reported cash balances, revenues, capital expenditures, cash flows, EBITDA, or loss before income taxes. That boundary matters for readers separating tax accounting corrections from operating cash generation.

Optimum said it intends to amend the fiscal 2025 Form 10-K and the applicable Forms 10-Q “as soon as reasonably practicable.” It also warned that the error identification is preliminary and unaudited and may change — including the possible discovery of additional errors — as Restated Filings are prepared. Management is assessing the effect of the restatements on internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures and expects to report in its Restated Filings that a material weakness in ICFR related to accounting for income taxes existed during the affected periods. Accordingly, the Audit Committee concluded that management’s report on ICFR as of December 31, 2025, and KPMG LLP’s opinion on the effectiveness of the company’s ICFR as of that date, should no longer be relied upon. The Audit Committee and management discussed the Item 4.02 matters with KPMG LLP.

The Form 8-K does not publish restated period-by-period net loss or EPS tables or a firm filing calendar beyond the “as soon as reasonably practicable” language.