BellSouth Corp has reported third-quarter results that beat estimates of $0.70 by a penny before the effects of a $787m gain on the sale of its investments in Optus Communications and ITT World Directories. Including the one-time gains, third-quarter net income up 88% at $1.19bn on revenue up 7.5% at $5.19bn – its 19th consecutive quarter of improved operating results. BellSouth says that effective marketing activity helped increase total access lines by 4.7%, with additional residential lines up 27%. Local service revenues grew 4% to $2.14bn. During the quarter, the company also saw its wireless customers pass the four million mark and revenue from that segment of the business grew 28% to $929m year-over-year. Nine-month net income rose 13.5% to $2.53bn on revenue up 6.9% at $14.96bn. Earnings per share rose 89% to $1.19 for the quarter, and 14% to $2.55 for the nine months. Year-ago nine-month results include a one-time gain of $442m.
