Verizon Q4 loss doubles to nearly $2 billion despite record subscriber adds
A record 2.1 million net postpaid subscriber additions and record fourth-quarter smartphone activations couldn’t offset huge charges related to pensions and costs associated with Hurricane Sandy, leaving Verizon (VZ) with a $1.93 billion loss in the holiday quarter. Verizon’s Q4 profit reached $0.45 per share excluding one-time charges and costs related to the storm, still short of the $0.52 analysts were expecting. Revenue in the quarter rose 4.5% to $30 billion, topping Wall Street’s $29.8 billion consensus. ”Verizon seized growth opportunities in the fourth quarter to cap a year of solid progress across the entire business,” Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam said. “We delivered a total return of 13.2 percent to shareholders in 2012, and we enter 2013 ready to accelerate the momentum we’ve achieved and create significant shareholder value in the years to come.” Verizon’s press release follows below.
[More from BGR: BlackBerry 10 OS walkthrough, BlackBerry Z10 pricing]
Verizon Reports Strong Revenue and Customer Growth for Verizon Wireless and FiOS Services in 4Q 2012
[More from BGR: More than 1 million people joined Kim Dotcom’s ‘Mega’ service on launch day]
Earnings Impacted by Previously Announced Non-Operational Charges
NEW YORK, Jan. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ –
4Q 2012 HIGHLIGHTS
Wireless
Wireline
Consolidated Earnings
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) today reported strong customer and revenue growth in Verizon Wireless and Verizon FiOS services in fourth-quarter 2012 — positioning the company well for 2013.
Verizon Wireless reported record-setting customer additions in the quarter, while Verizon FiOS customer additions were higher in fourth-quarter 2012 than in the prior two quarters, despite the impact of Superstorm Sandy.
“Verizon seized growth opportunities in the fourth quarter to cap a year of solid progress across the entire business,” said Lowell McAdam, Verizon chairman and CEO. “We delivered a total return of 13.2 percent to shareholders in 2012, and we enter 2013 ready to accelerate the momentum we’ve achieved and create significant shareholder value in the years to come.”
4Q and Full-Year Earnings Results
Due to the impact of non-operational items announced earlier this month, Verizon reported a loss of $1.48 in EPS in fourth-quarter 2012, compared with a fourth-quarter 2011 loss of 71 cents per share.
A reduction of 7 cents per share due to impacts from Superstorm Sandy yielded a total of 38 cents per share in adjusted fourth-quarter 2012 earnings (non-GAAP). Fourth-quarter 2012 charges totaled $1.86 per share: $1.55 per share related to severance, pension and benefit charges primarily for the annual actuarial valuation of Verizon’s benefit plans as well as the annuitization of various pension liabilities during the quarter, and31 cents per share related to the early retirement of debt and other restructuring activities.
Comparable adjusted fourth-quarter 2011 earnings of 52 cents per share excluded charges of $1.23 per share, primarily related to the valuation of pension plans.
On an annual basis, Verizon reported 31 cents in 2012 EPS, compared with 85 cents per share in 2011. Adjusted annual EPS (non-GAAP) was$2.24 in 2012, compared with $2.15 in 2011.
Revenue Growth Across All Strategic Areas; Continued Strong Cash Flow
In fourth-quarter 2012, Verizon’s consolidated quarterly operating revenues exceeded $30.0 billion for the first time in company history. This represented a 5.7 percent increase compared with fourth-quarter 2011 and was the company’s highest year-over-year quarterly growth rate in 2012.
For full-year 2012, Verizon’s revenues totaled $115.8 billion, an increase of 4.5 percent, or $5.0 billion, compared with 2011. In fourth-quarter 2012, Verizon saw year-over-year revenue increases across all strategic growth areas: 8.5 percent for Verizon Wireless service revenues, 15.7 percent for FiOS revenues and 5.3 percent for strategic enterprise services.
Cash flow from operating activities totaled $31.5 billion in 2012, an increase of 5.7 percent compared with $29.8 billion in 2011.
Capital expenditures were $16.2 billion in 2012, including $135 million in companywide capital related to Superstorm Sandy recovery efforts, and totaled about $70 million less than in 2011. Free cash flow (non-GAAP, cash flow from operations less capex) was $15.3 billion for the year, an increase of 13.1 percent compared with $13.5 billion in 2011.
Verizon maintained a strong balance sheet, with year-end 2012 total debt of $52.0 billion, down from $55.2 billion at year-end 2011.
Verizon Wireless Delivers Record-High Customer Additions and Strong Revenue Growth
In fourth-quarter 2012, Verizon Wireless delivered the highest number of retail postpaid net additions of any quarter in its history, strong growth in revenues, an increase in smartphone penetration, and continued low retail postpaid churn.
Wireless Financial Highlights
Wireless Operational Highlights
Wireline Reports Continued Strong FiOS Customer and Revenue Growth
In the Wireline segment, FiOS customer growth in fourth-quarter 2012 was greater than in the prior two quarters, despite the disruption caused by Superstorm Sandy. In global enterprise and wholesale, increased sales of strategic services continued to help mitigate lower revenues resulting from secular and global economic impacts.
Wireline Financial Highlights
Wireline Operational Highlights
NOTE: See the accompanying schedules and http://www.verizon.com/investor for reconciliations to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for non-GAAP financial measures cited in this document.
This article was originally published on BGR.com
