BellSouth reported consolidated Q1 revenues of $5.52 billion, compared to $5.53 billion in Q1 2002. Net income was $1.2 billion, compared to a net loss of $154 million in Q1 2002. Some highlights of the quarter:
- CAPEX was $631 million, a reduction of 37.2% compared to $1.0 billion in Q1 2002. The CAPEX-to-revenue ration for the quarter was 11.5%, although the guidance for future spending remains 15%.
Operating free cash flow (defined as cash flow from operations less capital expenditures) was $1.3 billion.
total debt was reduced by $753 million
BellSouth added 101,000 DSL customers, giving it a total of 1,122,000 customers. DSL customers now represent 7% of BellSouth-qualified lines.
At the end of the quarter, BellSouth had more than 1.9 million consumer and business long distance customers, nearly double the level three months ago. BellSouth now has 13% consumer LD penetration and 24% business LD penetration.
Data revenues were $1.09 billion, level with the first quarter a year ago.
Total access lines of 24.5 million at March 31 declined 3.6 percent compared to a year earlier, impacted by a continued weak economy, market share loss and technology substitution. Year-to-year retail line loss was 1.6 million - consumer line loss was 7%, small business line loss was 3.7%, and large business line loss was 6.5%.
UNE-P lines served to competitors grew by 231,000 to 1,774,000, a 110% increase over Q1 2002. The UNE-P growth was nearly all for consumer lines; business UNE-P lines were flat on a sequential basis. Wholesale resale lines provided to competitors declined by 56,000 to 380,000.
Cingular Wireless added 189,000 net subscribers in Q1, giving it a total of 8.8 million customers.
- Shares in BellSouth closed at $24.21, up by $2.50 or 11.5% for the day.
