CenturyLink Posts Q2 Revenue of $4.4 Billion, Flat Sales but Higher Profits

CenturyLink reported Q2 2016 revenue of $4.40 billion, compared to $4.42 billion in second quarter 2015. Declines in legacy and data integration revenues were partially offset by higher strategic revenues and increased high-cost support revenues related to Connect America Fund Phase 2 (CAF Phase 2) in second quarter 2016.

Net income and diluted earnings per share (EPS) were $196 million and $0.36, respectively, for second quarter 2016, compared to $143 million and $0.26, respectively, for second quarter 2015. The increase in diluted EPS was due to higher net income and the impact of the lower number of shares outstanding due to share repurchases in 2015.

"CenturyLink delivered solid second quarter financial results with total operating revenues and core revenues in line with our guidance, and operating cash flow and adjusted diluted earnings per share that exceeded our previous guidance," said Glen F. Post III, chief executive officer and president. "Our new sales and marketing leadership team continues to refine our sales channels and associated go-to-market strategies for the Business market, and continues to pivot toward higher-value bundled solutions for the Consumer market. While second quarter Consumer subscriber metrics were softer than anticipated, we expect to see an improvement in unit trends in the second half of the year.

"We also are continuing to invest with a 'network first' focus on delivering higher broadband speeds and in the transformation and virtualization of our network infrastructure through the deployment of NFV4 and SDN5 technologies. We ended the quarter with more than 8.4 million addressable households and businesses with 40 Mbps or higher speeds, including 1.2 million GPON-enabled addressable units. We expect to reach 11 million 40 Mbps or higher, including 2 million GPON-enabled addressable households and businesses by year-end 2017," concluded Post.

http://www.centurylink.com