Citing signs of improvement in its core businesses, Qwest Communications reported Q1 net income of $150 million or $0.09 per diluted share. Revenue for Q1 was $3.63 billion, a 9.4% decrease from the same period last year. The decline was attributed to competitive pressures in local voice and wireless services, as well as strategic de-emphasis of certain lines of business, including CPE resale and out-of-region consumer and wholesale long-distance. Some of the key operational and financial highlights for the quarter include:
- in DSL, Qwest ended the quarter with 526,000 in-region subscribers and 25,000 out-of-region subscribers for a total of 551,000 lines.
- the company has signed up 530,000 access lines within its local service area for long-distance service
- the company lost approximately 130,000 retail consumer access lines, 27,000 fewer lines than in Q4 2002. This represents its third consecutive quarter of improvement. Factors cited include better customer retention programs, offset by UNE-P competition and technology substitution. Combined consumer and business access lines declined 4.1 percent year-over-year in Q1.
- CAPEX for the quarter was $450 million, or approximately 12% of revenue
- the company obtained a commitment for a $1 billion senior term loan due in 2007
As for its outlook, Qwest expects its annual revenue decline to be in the mid-single digit range. Free cash flow from continuing operations is expected to be approximately breakeven. CAPEX for the year is targeted at $2.5 billion.
http://www.qwest.com
