SAN ANTONIO-SBC Communications Inc. announced its results for the second quarter, which was highlighted by the proposed merger with Ameritech Corp., as well as robust wireless subscriber growth.
SBC’s subsidiaries added 226,000 wireless subscribers during the second quarter, 120,000 of whom were new personal communications services subscribers in California and Nevada, where the company signed up its 500,000th subscriber. SBC said it added 871,000 subscribers during the past 12 months.
Operating revenues reported in the second quarter were $6.59 billion, an increase of 7.9 percent compared with $6.11 billion reported for the same period last year. This year to date, SBC posted revenues of $13.02 billion, a 7.7-percent increase compared with $12.08 billion reported halfway through 1997.
Second-quarter net income was $966 million, compared with a net loss of $787 million during the second quarter of last year, when SBC took $1.6 billion of one-time charges related to its merger with Pacific Telesis. Earnings increased 19.6 percent from normalized 1997 second-quarter earnings of $808 million.
This year’s six-month net income total was $1.89 billion, compared with net income of $70 million for the same period last year, also reflecting the unusual charges.
“We remain on target to achieve all of the synergies associated with the Pacific Telesis merger, particularly revenue growth at Pacific Bell, which increased 6.3 percent, driven in large part by our ability to sell vertical services as we continue to share expertise form Southwestern Bell,” said Edward Whitacre Jr., SBC*chairman and chief executive officer.
“At the same time, we’re on target to complete our merger with Southern New England Telecommunications over the next few months.
And, our proposed merger with Ameritech, our national-local strategy and our rollout of high-speed Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line-or ADSL-data services in California this quarter reinforce our commitment to continue to grow our core businesses longer term to deliver shareowner value.”
