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To: 2MAR$ who wrote (67)	4/28/2000 2:53:00 AM
From: 2MAR$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 762

MCI WORLDCOM Profits Rise 80 Percent, Top Forecasts dailynews.yahoo.com NEW YORK (Reuters) - MCI WorldCom Inc., the long-distance telephone company set to buy smaller rival Sprint Corp. (NYSE:FON - news), said on Thursday its first-quarter profits rose about 80 percent, just ahead of Wall Street expectations, amid strong growth in its data, Internet and international operations. Clinton, Miss.-based MCI WorldCom (NasdaqNM:WCOM - news) said net income in the quarter was $1.3 billion or 44 cents a share, compared with $712 million, or 24 cents a year ago. The results topped Wall Street expectations of 43 cents a share, according to research firm First Call/Thomson Financial. Shares of MCI WorldCom gained 4 1/2 to 45 3/8 in heavy trading on Nasdaq. MCI WorldCom, the No. 2 U.S. long-distance telephone company, said its total revenues increased to $10 billion from $9.1 billion a year ago. Core communications services revenues increased 14 percent to $10 billion from $8.7 billion a year ago. Speak your mind Discuss this story with other people. [Start a Conversation] (Requires Yahoo! Messenger) Data revenues surged 26 percent to $2.2 billion. Internet revenues jumped 46 percent to $1.1 billion and international revenues rose 31 percent to $1.4 billion. Data, Internet and international services now account for 46 percent of MCI WorldCom's total revenues and offset slow growth in its voice telephone business. The company has shifted away from slower-growing businesses such as the consumer long-distance and wholesale markets due to increased competition and pricing pressure. ``We continue to expect strong growth from our data, Internet and international businesses in 2000,'' MCI WorldCom Chief Executive Bernie Ebbers said. The company expects its 2000 revenues to increase 13.5 percent to 15.5 percent and said it remains comfortable with Wall Street 2000 earnings forecast of $1.89 a share. Domestic voice revenues grew 3 percent to $5.4 billion as minutes of use on its network grew 14 percent. Local telephone services accounted for more than 55 percent of the company's voice growth. During the quarter, MCI WorldCom said it added about 100,000 local residential customers in New York state, giving it a base of about 300,000 customers there. MCI WorldCom recently said it plans to move into lucrative services such as Web site creation or Web hosting -- the software and services that run Web sites. The new initiative will allow MCI WorldCom to provide the sophisticated services that businesses will use to design, run and expand online. MCI WorldCom, the product of more than 60 acquisitions over the past decade, in October agreed to buy Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. long-distance company, for $115 billion, edging aside rival bidder BellSouth Corp. (NYSE:BLS - news) The planned acquisition of Sprint, which is subject to regulatory approval, would allow MCI WorldCom to expand its long-distance customer base and to enter the wireless telephone market. MCI WorldCom also is eager to break into the wireless telephone market in Europe. Ebbers said the company may bid on Orange Plc, the British wireless company being shed by Germany's Mannesmann AG (MMNGn.DE) as part of its merger with Britain's Vodafone AirTouch Plc (VOD.L). MCI WorldCom earlier this month bowed out of the eight-week and 150-round auction of wireless telephone licenses in Britain, in which licenses were sold for a total of about $35.4 billion. The company said it still may get access to those licenses since the high prices being paid in the auction may force some of the winners to seek partners. ``We now think because of the prices paid...there's going to be an opportunity for us to participate with some of those who were successful in getting a license,'' Ebbers said. E-mail this story \| Printer-friendly format