Verizon profit and revenue grow in Q3 as iPhone 5 boosts subscriber additions

Verizon Reports Third Consecutive Quarter of Double-Digit Earnings Growth, Continued Strong Cash Flow

Verizon Wireless Again Posts Record-High Margin, Supported by Strong Service Revenues; Wireline Consumer Revenue Growth Continues to Accelerate

NEW YORK, Oct. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ –

3Q 2012 HIGHLIGHTS

Consolidated

Wireless

Wireline

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) today reported a third consecutive quarter of double-digit percentage growth in year-over-year earnings, as Verizon Wireless generated a second consecutive quarter of record-high margins and Verizon’s Wireline segment posted accelerated growth in consumer revenues.

Verizon reported 56 cents in EPS in third-quarter 2012, an increase of 14.3 percent compared with third-quarter 2011 earnings of 49 cents per share.

Adjusted third-quarter 2012 earnings (non-GAAP) of 64 cents per share exclude 8 cents per share for charges related to patent litigation settlements. Comparable adjusted third-quarter 2011 earnings of 56 cents per share excluded 7 cents per share for a non-operational charge related to an actuarial valuation of pension plans.

On Track to Meet 2012 Financial Objectives
“In the third quarter, Verizon continued to deliver double-digit earnings growth and strong cash generation, and we remain solidly on track to meet our financial objectives for the year,” said Lowell McAdam, Verizon chairman and CEO. “With our 4G LTE network advantage, well-received Share Everything Plans and unmatched product portfolio, Verizon Wireless continues to do an outstanding job of balancing growth and profitability. Wireless achieved record profitability in a quarter in which we reported the highest number of retail postpaid gross and net adds in four years.”

McAdam added: ”Based on the strength of our FiOS fiber-optic network, we reported the highest growth in U.S. consumer wireline revenues in 10 years. Additionally, strategic services growth in our Enterprise business helped offset weaker revenues caused by global economic challenges. We are confident that we have the right plans in place to meet these challenges while improving the long-term profitability in both Consumer and Enterprise.”

Continued Strong Revenue Growth; Year-to-Date Free Cash Flow Up 49.9 Percent
In third-quarter 2012, Verizon’s total operating revenues were $29.0 billion on a consolidated basis, an increase of 3.9 percent compared with third-quarter 2011.

Consolidated operating income was $5.5 billion in third-quarter 2012, compared with $4.6 billion in third-quarter 2011. Consolidated EBITDA (non-GAAP, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) totaled $9.65 billion in third-quarter 2012, compared with $8.8 billion in third-quarter 2011.

Cash flow from operating activities totaled $24.8 billion in the first nine months of 2012, compared with $21.5 billion in the first nine months of 2011.

With capital expenditures of $11.3 billion in the first nine months of 2012, free cash flow (non-GAAP, cash flow from operations less capex) was$13.4 billion through third-quarter 2012, compared with $9.0 billion through third-quarter 2011 – an increase of 49.9 percent.

For full-year 2012, capital expenditures are expected to be lower than 2011 capital expenditures of $16.2 billion.

Verizon Wireless Results: Record Profitability, Strong Customer and Revenue Growth
In third-quarter 2012, Verizon Wireless delivered the highest number of retail postpaid net additions in four years; strong growth in revenues; an increase in smartphone penetration; and the highest segment EBITDA margin on service revenues (non-GAAP) in the company’s history, surpassing last quarter’s previous high.

Wireless Financial Highlights

Wireless Operational Highlights

Wireline Results: Accelerated Consumer Revenue and ARPU Growth
In third-quarter 2012 in the Wireline segment, FiOS revenue growth led to strong overall revenue growth among U.S. consumer customers. In global enterprise and wholesale, increased sales of strategic services helped mitigate lower revenues resulting from continued secular and global economic impacts.

Wireline Financial Highlights

Wireline Operational Highlights

Verizon Enterprise Solutions Highlights
Verizon Enterprise Solutions – a global sales and marketing organization that harnesses all of Verizon’s cloud, mobility and other platforms to serve the rapidly transforming enterprise market with integrated solutions – continued to expand and enhance its capabilities in the U.S. and abroad in third-quarter 2012. The organization saw new customers leveraging its dynamic cloud, intelligent networks, mobility and machine-to-machine (M2M) platforms, while the organization made significant announcements and won recognition during the quarter. Among highlights, Verizon Enterprise Solutions:

Further Verizon Enterprise Solutions third-quarter 2012 highlights are available online at http://www.verizonbusiness.com/go/Q3.

Pension Funding Details
Verizon yesterday announced an agreement to transfer pension assets to The Prudential Insurance Company of America by purchasing a single premium group-annuity contract to settle approximately $7.5 billion of Verizon’s obligations for approximately 41,000 participants under its management pension plan. The closing of the transaction, which is subject to certain conditions, is expected to occur in December 2012.

In connection with the closing, Verizon currently intends to contribute an aggregate of approximately $2.5 billion to the plan, including a $930 millioncontribution made last month, to provide for the annuity and so that the plan’s funding percentage does not decrease as a result of this transaction.

As a result, Verizon’s revised outlook for pension funding in 2012 is estimated to be $3.4 billion, compared with the $1.3 billion estimated at the beginning of the year. Assuming the closing of the transaction and the additional contribution, Verizon does not expect to have any cash-funding requirement for pensions in 2013.

NOTE: See the accompanying schedules and www.verizon.com/investor for reconciliations to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for non-GAAP financial measures cited in this document.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America’s most reliable wireless network, with nearly 96 million retail customers nationwide. Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America’s most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers in more than 150 countries, including all of the Fortune 500. A Dow 30 company with $111 billion in 2011 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of 184,500. For more information, visit www.verizon.com .

VERIZON’S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts, high-quality video and images, and other information are available at Verizon’s News Center on the World Wide Web at www.verizon.com/news . To receive news releases by email, visit the News Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news releases.

NOTE: This presentation contains statements about expected future events and financial results that are forward-looking and subject to risks and uncertainties. For those statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The following important factors could affect future results and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements: adverse conditions in the U.S. and international economies; competition in our markets; material adverse changes in labor matters, including labor negotiations or additional organizing activity, and any resulting financial and/or operational impact; material changes in available technology; any disruption of our key suppliers’ provisioning of products or services; significant increases in benefit plan costs or lower investment returns on plan assets; breaches of network or information technology security, natural disasters or terrorist attacks or existing or future litigation and any resulting financial impact not covered by insurance; technology substitution; an adverse change in the ratings afforded our debt securities by nationally accredited ratings organizations or adverse conditions in the credit markets impacting the cost, including interest rates, and/or availability of financing; any changes in the regulatory environments in which we operate, including any increase in restrictions on our ability to operate our networks; the timing, scope and financial impact of our deployment of broadband technology; changes in our accounting assumptions that regulatory agencies, including the SEC, may require or that result from changes in the accounting rules or their application, which could result in an impact on earnings; our ability to complete acquisitions and dispositions; and the inability to implement our business strategies.