BellSouth reported Q4 revenue of $5.15 billion, an increase of 0.8 percent compared to the same quarter in 2003. Income from continuing operations was $496 million compared to $836 million in the same quarter of the previous year. Reported EPS from continuing operations for the quarter was 27 cents compared to 45 cents in the fourth quarter of 2003. The company cited restoration expenses due to hurricanes, severance-related expenses and a previously announced change in the calculation of the retiree medical benefit obligation for its lower earnings. Some highlights from the quarterly report:
- In 2004, revenue growth from long distance and DSL high-speed Internet service offset reduced revenue from access line declines, holding Communications Group revenue flat at $18.45 billion, compared to 2003. In the fourth quarter, revenue increased 0.6 percent to $4.65 billion compared to the same quarter the previous year. Operating margin for 2004 was 25.1 percent compared to 26.3 percent in 2003.
- During Q4, BellSouth added 467,000 mass-market long distance customers, giving it more than 6.1 million mass-market long distance customers.
- As of Dec. 31, more than 200,000 BellSouth customers have added DIRECTV to their communications services packages.
- As of Dec. 31, total access lines were 21.4 million, down 4.1 percent compared to a year earlier. UNE-P access lines resold by BellSouth competitors were 2.8 million at year-end 2004 compared to 2.4 million at year-end 2003. In the third and fourth quarters of 2004, UNE-P lines began a declining trend and decreased a total of 165,000 over the second half of 2004.
