Verizon Q3 Adj. Profit Matches View

(RTTNews) - Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) reported Thursday flat profit in the third-quarter 2017, but quarterly total consolidated operating revenues increased 2.5 percent from the prior year. The adjusted earnings per share met analysts' expectations. The company reaffirmed outlook for its fiscal year 2017. But it now expects capital spending for 2017 to be at the lower end of the prior range.

"Verizon Wireless delivered another quarter of profitable growth combined with strong customer loyalty. This success is based on the strength of the Verizon network, and I share the pride of all Verizon employees that our network aided and served first-responders and customers when they needed it most following the recent natural disasters," said Chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam.

Verizon still expects full-year 2017 consolidated revenues, on an organic basis, to be fairly consistent with 2016, with improvement in wireless service revenue and equipment revenue trends; also, full-year 2017 consolidated adjusted earnings per share trends to be similar to consolidated revenue trends.

Consolidated capital spending for 2017 now expected to be at the lower end of the range of $16.8 billion to $17.5 billion.

In the pre-market trade, VZ is trading at $49.80, up $1.16 or 2.38 percent.

Net income attributable to Verizon for the third-quarter 2017 was flat with last year at $3.62 billion or $0.89 per share. The third-quarter 2017 earnings included a 1-cent-per-share impact as a result of the natural disasters in Florida and Texas. Net Income for the quarter declined 0.3 percent to $3.736 billion from $3.747 billion in the previous year.

On an adjusted basis, third-quarter 2017 earnings per share were $0.98, compared to $1.01 in third-quarter 2016. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.98 per share for the third-quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. The latest-quarter result included 7 cents per share in net losses primarily for early debt redemption costs, and 2 cents per share in acquisition and integration related charges in connection with Yahoo and other acquisitions.

Total consolidated operating revenues in third-quarter 2017 were $31.72 billion, up 2.5 percent from $30.94 billion last year. On a comparable basis excluding divestitures and acquisitions, consolidated revenues declined 2.3 percent. Wall Street expected revenues of $31.45 billion for the quarter.

In Wireless segment, Verizon reported a net increase of 603,000 retail postpaid connections in third-quarter 2017. Net phone additions of 274,000 included 486,000 smartphones in the quarter, compared with 242,000 smartphone additions in third-quarter 2016. The company had 109.7 million retail postpaid connections and 5.6 million retail prepaid connections at the end of the quarter. Total revenues were $21.6 billion in third-quarter 2017, a decline of 2.4 percent compared with third-quarter 2016.

In Wireless, the company expects its service revenue trend to continue to improve in fourth-quarter 2017, exiting the year with a year-over-year decline of less than 4 percent.

Total wireline revenues increased 1.1 percent to $7.7 billion, comparing third-quarter 2017 with third-quarter 2016. In third-quarter 2017, Verizon added a net of 66,000 Fios Internet connections and lost a net of 18,000 Fios Video connections, reflecting the ongoing shift from traditional linear video to over-the-top offerings.