Verizon Communications Inc, the largest US telecommunications company, on Thursday reported third-quarter earnings virtually unchanged from the year before as strong wireless growth offset losses from local phone lines.
Net income totalled $1.8 billion, or 64 cents a share, matching results from the third quarter of 2003. Excluding one-time charges in both periods, Verizon said earnings slipped to 65 cents a share from 67 cents a share a year earlier.
Revenue rose 6.7 percent to $18.2 billion, with wireless revenue up 23 percent at $7.3 billion. Analysts on average had expected Verizon to earn 64 cents a share on revenue of $18 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.
Verizon Wireless added 1.67 million new customers, more than double the number added by newly combined Cingular Wireless and AT&T Wireless during the quarter. Its average monthly revenue per customer rose 3.1 percent from the previous year to $51.58, and customer turnover, or churn, was 1.5 percent.
Analysts said the growth at Verizon Wireless surpassed forecasts and suggested the company's strategy of shifting resources toward its wireless arm was paying off.
"Verizon is no longer a traditional RBOC," or regional local phone company, said Marquis Investment Research analyst Greg Gorbatenko. "They're a wireless company that happens to have some local assets."
The wireline business added 309,000 high-speed Internet customers and 525,000 long-distance lines during the quarter, but Verizon lost 673,000 local phone lines. Competitors that wholesale Verizon's local service added 105,000 lines - a smaller total than previous quarters.
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