BellSouth added 636,000 net long distance customers and 156,000 net DSL customers in Q1, offsetting continued access line declines. Consolidated revenues from continuing operations were $5.0 billion, 0.8% lower than the same quarter of the previous year. Income from continuing operations was $1.2 billion compared to $850 million in the same quarter a year ago. Operating free cash flow from continuing operations (defined as cash flow from operations less capital expenditures) totaled $1.1 billion.
Some highlights for Q1:
- Growth in revenues from long distance and DSL offset access line declines holding Communications Group revenues flat at $4.6 billion compared to 2003.
- Data revenues were $1.1 billion, up slightly compared to the same quarter of 2003.
- BellSouth added 156,000 net DSL customers for a total of 1.6 million at quarter-end.
- Total access lines of 22.1 million at March 31 declined 3.6% compared to a year earlier. Residence and business access lines served by BellSouth competitors under UNE-P (unbundled network elements-platform) increased by 301,000
- Operating margin for the quarter was 25.6% compared 26.3% for the full year in 2003.
- CAPEX was $635 million compared to $588 million in 2003.
- Cingular Wireless continued strong customer growth with 554,000 net cellular/PCS customers in the first quarter.
