Verizon Posts 2Q Loss On Buyout Costs; Core EPS Tops Views >VZ

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) swung to a second-quarter loss as the company booked $2.3 billion of charges related to its ongoing buyout of some 11,000 employees. But earnings minus the charges beat analysts' forecasts, and the company "showed solid improvement in operational results in the quarter," Chairman and Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg said. Shares rose 1.4% to $27.38 premarket. As of Thursday's close, the stock had fallen 7.6% in the past year. Verizon added 1.4 million wireless subscribers during the quarter, fewer than the 1.6 million additions rival AT&T Inc. (T) reported on Thursday. A year earlier, Verizon added 1.1 million. The total customer base stands at 92.1 million, up 5% from a year earlier. Verizon Wireless, owned jointly with the U.K.'s Vodafone Group PLC (VOD, VOD.LN), has posted strong subscriber growth, although the company has trailed rival AT&T, which has drawn its strength from Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) wildly popular iPhone. The company has seen demand improve. Seidenberg has said the company has been helped by growth in wireless data and a healing economy. But Verizon's results of late have been hurt by one-time items related to issues ranging from work-force cuts to the health-care overhaul. Verizon reported a loss of $198 million, or 7 cents a share, from a profit of $1.48 billion, or 52 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding items such as labor- and merger-related costs, earnings fell to 58 cents a share from 63 cents as revenue dipped 0.3% to $26.77 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had most recently forecast earnings of 56 cents a share on $27.11 billion in revenue. Wireless revenue increased 3.4%. Meanwhile, the company's wireline operations saw total lines fall 9.2%. Verizon also said its FiOS TV subscriber base was 27% bigger than a year earlier. -By Nathan Becker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2855; nathan.becker@dowjones.com; (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 23, 2010 07:55 ET (11:55 GMT)