AT&T Profit Rises 74% on Wireless Growth

AT&T PROFIT RISES 74% ON WIRELESS GROWTH
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ken Belson]
AT&T said yesterday that its profit increased 74 percent in the third quarter, spurred by strong growth at Cingular Wireless and savings from the merger of the old AT&T with SBC Communications. The company earned $2.17 billion in the quarter. That compared with $1.25 billion in the third quarter a year earlier, before SBC Communications bought the AT&T Corporation, the long-distance service provider, and took its name. Revenue from the enlarged company rose 52 percent, to $15.6 billion in the quarter. As a result of cost-cutting efforts including the elimination of 3,600 jobs, profit margins rose to 19.5 percent in the quarter, up from 19 percent in the second quarter. With more cuts on the way, AT&T says it expects its profit to grow at double-digit rates next year, assuming that its purchase of BellSouth is approved as expected. AT&T, the nation’s largest telecommunications company, continues to lose traditional phone customers as more cable operators offer rival products. AT&T also signed up fewer broadband customers than analysts had expected. It may also have to spend more to build up its new broadband television product called U-Verse, analysts said. The company said 10 percent of those capable of getting the service, or about 3,000 customers, had signed up in San Antonio, the first market. It added that it expected to start selling U-Verse to customers in 15 other markets by the end of the year. In the short run, though, AT&T is most eager for the Federal Communications Commission to sign off on its purchase of BellSouth.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/technology/24att.html
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* AT&T posts $2.2-billion profit as recent acquisitions pay off
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-att24oct24,1,5097163.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-business