NCR Corp is still locked up in AT&T Corp’s maw, and will only be completely liberated towards the end of the year, but the picture it is able to paint as a stand-alone company will not be such a pretty one, since revenue for the most recent quarter was down 18% at $1,679m. NCR said the decrease reflects exiting the personal computer manufacturing business, and sales were flat with last year, excluding that business. Gross margins improved by 7.2% as a percentage of revenues, while expenses decreased by 4.1% taken as a percentage of revenue. AT&T also declared a special dividend of Lucent Technologies Inc stock, payable to AT&T shareholders of record on September 17, to be distributed on September 30. This represents all 524.6m Lucent shares held by AT&T, thereby completing the spinoff of Lucent, and holders will get about 0.326 of a Lucent for each AT&T share held. Intense competition in its core long distance service for consumers is continuing, and 1996 growth rates are not likely to match those seen in 1995, despite aggressive marketing, AT&T said. It encountered turbulence in its consumer business but saw growth in cellular subscriber levels and long-distance call volumes.
