Verizon Communications Inc., the No. 1 local phone company, reported first-quarter earnings that matched analysts’ expectations and revenue that was slightly below the previous period a year ago.
The company posted nearly $3.91 billion in net income and $16.3 billion in revenue, a 0.9 percent decrease from the first quarter the previous year.
Verizon reported $1.41 cents in fully diluted earnings per share, compared to a loss of 18 cents per share in the first quarter of 2002. Excluding special and non-recurring items, the phone company reported 63 cents in EPS, which matched analysts’ expectations, according to Thomson First Call.
Verizon ended the quarter with $49.9 billion in net debt.
The phone giant added 710,000 long-distance lines and 160,000 DSL lines in the quarter. Verizon, which is among the four largest long-distance companies, had 13.2 million lines in service at the end of the quarter. DSL lines totaled 1.83 million.
