Reporting first quarter operating profits up 17%, AT&T Co chief executive officer Robert Allen told the company’s annual meeting that keys to the company’s future success are cutting costs, taking risks to pursue opportunities in new growth areas and finding creative ways to expand its core businesses. Allen sees one of the key challenges being to become a truly global company. We have to get closer to our customers in markets outside the US. We have to move decision-making to our managers who live and work in those markets. Allen cited growth in long distance revenues, up about 3% to $10,220m as evidence of improvement in the economy and the competitive success of the recently introduced calling plans. Volume of long distance calls grew nearly 7% over the same period in 1993. Products and systems revenues grew more than 14% to $4,070m, led by strong sales of business and consumer telecommunications products, network telecommunications equipment, microelectronics and computer products. Total revenues for AT&T Global Information Solutions, formerly NCR, rose nearly 3% in the first quarter to $1,530m, with product sales up 5%. The unit reported an operating loss of $57m for the quarter, compared with a loss of $14m a year ago, reflecting stiff price competition and the fact that restructuring activities begun at year-end were not yet completed. But orders for the quarter were up sharply over the year-ago quarter inside and outside the US, and the company says it expects to begin to see positive effects of recent cost reductions in the second quarter. Allen is confident AT&T will get the nod on its acquisition of McCaw Cellular Communications Inc.
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