AT&T delivers as $3.8bn profit beats forecasts
THE SECOND largest US mobile service provider posted its results for the third quarter after trading finished yesterday, with profits of $3.81bn (£2.36bn) revealed.
AT&T’s earnings per share excluding significant items were slightly above expectations, at $0.66 against the $0.65 that was predicted. In the same quarter of 2012, the comparable figure was $0.63 per share.
The company’s chairman and chief executive officer, Randall Stephenson, credited its fibre-optic network U-verse with the “excellent growth”, as the number of people using the service reached ten million.
Revenues climbed 2.2 per cent when compared to the same period, rising to $32.2bn, and the firm announced over two million new wireless and high-speed broadband connections.
AT&T now has more pay TV customers than any other telecommunications firm, according to their release. Wireless data is also a boost to earnings for the group: revenues rose by 17.6 per cent.
Earlier this month, AT&T agreed to lease over 9,000 of its towers to Crown Castle International, an American infrastructure firm. The deal made $4.85bn for AT&T, with which the firm may a buy back some shares.
Rival communications company Verizon posted stronger results a week ago, with earnings per share at $0.77, way above the $0.56 it managed at the same point in 2013.