Verizon’s quarterly result is a tale of two companies: the well-performed wireless division, which boosted its income 29%, and the shrinking wireline group.
The company increased profit by 9.8% to $2.89 billion for the September quarter, narrowly beating expectations.
Verizon, the largest US carrier, added 1.3 million mobile customers to take its total to 89 million, it said yesterday. Wireless sales were up 23.7%, powered by demand for mobile data services. Wireless data ARPU was up 17% to $15.59.
But profit in the wireline business fell 57.6% to $444 million as it ended the quarter with just under 19 million access lines, a 12.3% fall from a year ago.
This was partially offset by growth in FIOS, which added another 198,000 customers, helping to grow consumer wireline ARPU 12.6% to $75. The global business group increased revenue 1% to $1.6 billion over Q3 2008.
“Verizon continues to generate strong cash flow, which we have used in building the foundation for sustainable, long-term shareowner value,” said chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg.
“As the US economic and employment picture improves, and as we accelerate reductions in our own cost structure, we are well-positioned to quickly and significantly improve our growth profile,” he said.