AirTouch 1st-Quarter Profit From Ops 35c-Share, Above Estimates
Bloomberg News
April 22, 1999, 6:41 a.m. PT
AirTouch 1st-Quarter Profit From Ops 35c-Share, Above Estimates
San Francisco, April 22 (Bloomberg) -- AirTouch
Communications Inc., a wireless phone company that
Vodafone Plc plans to buy for $64.9 billion, said first-
quarter profit rose 83 percent as it added more than
one million customers for the second straight quarter.
Profit from operations was $211 million, or 35
cents a share, compared with pro forma net income of
$115 million, or 20 cents, a year ago. AirTouch was
expected to earn 32 cents, based on a survey of 20
analysts by First Call Corp. Results include the
payment of preferred dividends.
AirTouch, which is the largest U.S. cellular phone
company, had strong growth in international markets,
where it had an 84 percent increase in customers. It
added a total of 1.1 million customer in the quarter,
bringing its total to 18.8 million, including stakes in
international ventures.
''Our international ventures once again racked up
impressive gains and the U.S. side of our business
achieved remarkable customer growth in the face of
heated competition,'' Sam Ginn, chairman and chief
executive said in a statement.
Revenue rose 27 percent to $2.12 billion from
$1.66 billion. Cash flow, or earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation and amortization, rose 39 percent.
Capital spending rose 3 percent.
In the recent quarter, AirTouch said it had a gain
of $46 million, or 8 cents, from the sale of certain
equity investments, which resulted in net income of
$257 million, or 43 cents. The company said there
weren't any one-time items in the 1998 period.
Results are also on a pro forma basis, reflecting the
purchase of MediaOne Group as if it had been effective on
Jan. 1, 1998.
Shares of AirTouch rose 2 1/2 to 94 1/2 in early
trading.
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