ENGLEWOOD, Colo.-U S West Communications Group announced fourth quarter adjusted earnings of 60 cents per share before a $250 million regulatory charge-compared with 63 cents for the same period in 1996-and annual 1997 earnings per share of $2.59, up 6.1 percent compared with 1996 earnings, similarly adjusted.
Prior to the regulatory charge, normalized net income was $290 million for the quarter, down 4.6 percent, and was $1.25 billion for the year, up 7.6 percent.
The regulatory charge stems primarily from a refund to its customers in the state of Washington following a Supreme Court decision upholding a 1996 Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission ruling requiring the company to reduce its annual rates by $91.5 million, said Dave Banks, director of financial communications for U S West.
On a reported basis, including the regulatory charge, the company’s normalized earnings per share for the quarter was 28 cents and $2.28 for the year, compared with $2.44 in 1996.
Reported net income for the quarter was $170 million, down 45.3 percent from $311 million for the same period 1996, and year-end net income including the regulatory charge was $1.18 billion, down 5.8 percent from 1996 net income of $1.25 billion.
Quarterly results were impacted by accelerated spending on the rollout of the company’s personal communications service offering, branded Access2 Advanced PCS, in six markets as well as spending for mandated interconnection and number portability to help foster local competition.
Although the company has not yet released its PCS subscriber numbers, Banks said approximately 40 percent of all new adds in its PCS markets are Access2 subscribers.
