AT&T Enters Into $4 Bln Accelerated Share Repurchase Agreement

(RTTNews) - AT&T Inc.'s (T) president and chief operating officer John Stankey said that the company began retiring shares in the fourth quarter. The company expects the share retirements will help offset the impact to earning per share in the fourth quarter from HBO Max investments. The company has entered into a $4 billion accelerated share repurchase agreement to retire about 100 million shares in the first quarter of 2020.

Stankey said that the company is focused on exceeding its recent typical annual 6% to 8% reduction in network operational costs. Stankey said the company has set a 2020 target of an additional 4% in cost reductions, or about $1.5 billion, driven primarily by lower labor-related costs and corporate overhead.

AT&T plans to continue to invest in both capital and content while also continuing modest annual dividend growth.

By the end of 2022, AT&T expects to have retired 100% of the debt it incurred to fund the acquisition of Time Warner.