NEW YORK-Driven in part by record gains in wireless subscribers, fourth-quarter net income for Bell Atlantic Corp. grew $395.4 million, or 25.6 percent when compared with 1994 results for the same period, the company announced last week.
Officers of the Philadelphia-based company said its domestic wireless investments contributed to more than half of its earnings growth for 1995. Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile, based in Bedminster, N.J., added 338,000 subscribers during the fourth quarter. Cynthia White, chief operating officer for the joint venture, attributed a sizable portion of the fourth-quarter growth spurt to the Christmas season introduction of TalkAlong service.
“With its unique combination of affordable price and user-friendliness, TalkAlong positions us very well to compete with emerging PCS carriers,” said Lawrence T. Babbio, Jr., vice chairman of Bell Atlantic, in a prepared statement.
Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile added one million subscribers in 1995.
White termed the venture’s 43 percent annual subscriber growth, “the largest quarterly net addition reported by any cellular carrier.” The venture’s market penetration increased to 6 percent, she said.
Bell Atlantic’s strong fourth quarter contributed to record earnings growth for fiscal 1995 in which the company reported an increase of $1.86 billion, or $4.24 per share. The parent company’s 1995 results include a one-time, after-tax gain of about $200 million, or 46 cents per share, on the sale of overlapping cellular properties in connection with last July’s combination of Bell Atlantic Mobile and Nynex Mobile Communications Inc. Adjusted earnings, which also take into account one-time expenses for debt financing and business development ventures, were $1.7 billion, or $3.88 per share.
By comparison, the company posed a loss of $754.8 million, or $1.73 per share, at the close of fiscal 1994. This included one-time, noncash charges of $2.28 billion, or $5.22 per share, related to debt financing and discontinuing noncore businesses. Excluding these nonrecurring charges, adjusted 1994 earnings were $1.53 billion, or $3.49 per share.
“We achieved double-digit growth (in 1995) despite sizable price reductions, foreign exchange losses, the channeling of resources toward forming Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile and significant development expenses in our new business ventures,” said Raymond W. Smith, chairman and chief executive officer.
