ATTL Posts Wider Loss, Cuts Outlook
NEW YORK, Aug. 13 (Reuters) - Telecommunications service provider AT&T Latin America Corp. (ATTL,Trade) on Tuesday said its second-quarter net loss widened, hurt by pricing pressure in Brazil and the currency devaluation in Argentina.
The Latin American unit of No. 1 U.S. long-distance phone company AT&T Corp. (T,Trade) also lowered its revenue guidance for the year, causing its depleted share price to slide further.
"If you adjust for the currency swing they did okay but they have a significant debt load and they need to do something about it," Kaufman Bros analyst Vik Grover said. "Latin America is turning into a disaster ... This tests the thesis that AT&T, as a big brother, will help out."
AT&T Latin America said its debts rose to $842.9 million by the quarter-end from $662.1 million at the end of last year. This includes $603.9 million in debt from its parent AT&T.
The stock fell 5 cents, or almost 7 percent to 68 cents in afternoon trade on the Nasdaq. The shares have traded below the market's key $1 threshold since late May, raising investor fears it could be delisted, Grover said.
The company, which operates in five Latin American countries, reported a net loss of $103.3 million, or 87 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $73 million, or 63 cents a share.
Before one-time charges, including depreciation and amortization, the service provider said its loss was $68.8 million, or 58 cents a share, in the latest quarter, versus a year-earlier loss of $71.7 million and a 2002 first-quarter loss of $58.5 million.
During a conference call with analysts, the company's chief financial officer, Nelson Murphy, said the company would not make its 2002 revenue guidance of $200 million to $220 million.
The company now expects its 2002 loss before earnings, interest, tax and depreciation to come in at the low end or slightly worse than its previous guidance for a loss of $34 million to $40 million.
AT&T Latin America, said second quarter revenue rose 24 percent from a year earlier, to $42 million, but fell 5 percent from the first quarter due to Argentina's currency devaluation, lower wholesale volume in Chile, and pricing pressure in Brazil. |
