Verizon Communications Inc. on Tuesday said strong growth in its long-distance telephone and wireless businesses helped the company post a second-quarter profit.
The New York-based company reported net income of $338 million, or diluted earnings per share of 12 cents, on $18.6 billion in operating revenue. That income compared to a loss of $2.1 billion in the quarter a year ago.
Verizon, which says it is the third largest long-distance provider, added 1.4 million long-distance lines in the quarter, bringing its total to 14.6 million.
Verizon Wireless added 1.3 million customers and recorded its lowest churn record in history at 1.7 percent (retail).
However, rivals continued to eat into the company’s core local phone business. Verizon reported losing 387,000 residential access lines in the quarter, bringing the total of lost lines to 573,000 for the first six months of the year. Verizon also reported losing 505,000 business access lines through the first half of the year, but said WorldCom Inc. disconnected 177,000 of those lines in the second quarter.
Shares of Verizon were trading this afternoon at $35.41 on the New York Stock Exchange.
