Thursday April 29 9:28 AM ET
MCI WorldCom Profits Beat Expectations
NEW YORK (Reuters) - MCI WorldCom Inc. (Nasdaq:WCOM - news) Thursday posted a better-than-expected, threefold increase in first-quarter profits, driven by the benefits of last year's acquisition of MCI Communications Corp. and strong growth in data and Internet services.
MCI WorldCom's first-quarter profits increased to $688 million, or 36 cents a share, compared with pro forma profits of $169 million, or 10 cents a share, a year ago.
The current quarter results exclude MCI WorldCom's stake in Brazilian phone company Embratel and a gain on the sale of Verio Inc. (Nasdaq:VRIO - news) shares.
Jackson, Miss.-based MCI WorldCom's results topped Wall Street's earnings expectations of 34 cents a share, according to market research firm First Call, which tracks analysts' estimates.
Revenues, excluding Embratel, increased 14.7 percent to $8.3 billion compared with pro forma revenues of $7.3 billion a year ago. First quarter core communications services revenues increased 17 percent to $7.9 billion from $6.8 billion a year ago. MCI WorldCom, the No. 3 U.S. long distance company, said it expects to see continued, strong revenue growth in its core communications business.
Voice minutes-of-use increased 10 percent over the year ago period, while Internet volume, as measured by connect hours, increased to over 900 million hours, or about double the year ago level. |
