For the first quarter ended March 31, Verizon Communications reported a net profit of $3.9bn compared with a net loss of $500m in the year-ago quarter, on revenue down nearly 1% at $16.3bn. The net profit included a one-time gain of $2.1bn from the adoption of new accounting rules on asset retirement.
Verizon Wireless, the joint venture between Verizon and the Newbury, UK-based mobile operator Vodafone Group Plc continued to be the principal growth generator for the company. It reported a 14.8% rise in revenue to $5.1bn, from $4.43bn in the year-ago quarter. The figures were helped by increased revenue per customer, and lower churn rates (customers disconnecting during the quarter). ARPU increased 3% to $47, while the churn rate fell 2.1% from 2.6% in the year-ago quarter. It also added 833,000 subscribers during the quarter to reach a total of 33.3 million, or 14.3% of the market.
Meanwhile, revenue at Verizon’s core local telephone unit dropped 3% to $9.9bn. The number of fixed lines operated by the domestic telecom business fell 3.8% to 57.5 million. Its long-distance business, which recently passed Sprint to reach the number-three position, added 710,000 lines during the quarter, reaching a total of 13.2 million lines. The broadband business added 160,000 digital subscriber lines to increase its total to 1.83 million lines.
Looking forward, Verizon stuck to its full forecasts of 0% to 2% revenue growth, earnings per share of $2.70 to $2.80 range, and capital expenditures of $12.5bn to $13.5bn. The New York-based carrier cut net debt by $2.7bn, lowering its debt level to $49.9bn.
Source: Computerwire
