AT&T Q4 Profit Matches Estimates, Revenue Up 15.2%; Reaffirms FY19 Guidance

(RTTNews) - AT&T Inc. (T) reported fourth-quarter net income attributable to company of $4.9 billion, or $0.66 per share, compared to $19.0 billion, or $3.08 per share, in the year-ago quarter which reflected the impact of the December 2017 federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Adjusting for items, earnings per share was $0.86 compared to an adjusted $0.78 in the year-ago quarter, a 10% increase. On average, 24 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit per share of $0.86 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Fourth-quarter revenues totaled $48.0 billion compared to $41.7 billion in the year-ago quarter, up 15.2%, primarily due to the Time Warner acquisition partially offset by the impact of ASC 606 which includes the policy election of netting of approximately $980 million of USF revenues with operating expenses. Without the accounting change, revenues were $48.9 billion, an increase of 17.2% primarily due to the Time Warner acquisition. Analysts expected revenue of $48.5 billion for the quarter.

For fourth-quarter, North America Wireless recorded 3.8 million total wireless net adds. For Mobility: service revenues were up 2.9% on a comparable basis; with 147,000 phone net adds in the U.S. which included 134,000 postpaid phone net adds, during the quarter.

Fiscal 2018 net income attributable to AT&T was $19.4 billion, or $2.85 per share, compared to $29.5 billion, or $4.76 per share in 2017. With adjustments for both years, earnings per share was $3.52 compared to an adjusted $3.05 in 2017, up 15% primarily due to lower rates associated with tax reform, the impact of ASC 606 and the acquisition of Time Warner.

Fiscal 2018 consolidated revenues totaled $170.8 billion compared to $160.5 billion, previous year, an increase of 6.4%, primarily due to the Time Warner acquisition partially offset by the impact of ASC 606 which includes the policy election of netting approximately $3.7 billion of USF revenues with operating expenses. Without the accounting change, revenues were $174.3 billion, an increase of 8.6% primarily due to the Time Warner acquisition.

For fiscal 2019, AT&T expects: free cash flow in the $26 billion range; low single-digit adjusted EPS growth; and gross capital investment in the $23 billion range.