AT&T Corp. on Thursday reported a lower profit than the first quarter a year ago, but officials said they were determined to diversify their offers and improve the cost structure in an industry characterized by oversupply and intense pricing pressure.
"We remain focused on leading the technology transformation in telecom, diversifying our product offerings to include new offers such as VoIP and wireless, improving our cost structure and building on our financial strength,” AT&T Chairman and CEO David W. Dorman said in a statement.
The company reported net income of $304 million for the first quarter of 2004, compared to $571 million in the quarter a year ago. AT&T said its net income included a tax benefit related to a prior investment, losses on the early retirement of debt and net restructuring, and other charges.
AT&T reported first-quarter 2004 consolidated revenue of $8 billion, which included $5.9 billion from AT&T Business and $2.1 billion from AT&T Consumer. Consolidated revenue declined 11.1 percent compared to the first quarter of 2003. The company said that was due to continued declines in long-distance voice and data revenue. AT&T said declines were partially offset by success in AT&T Consumer's bundled local and long-distance offering, as well as growth in several key markets of AT&T Business.
AT&T's first-quarter 2004 operating income totaled $281 million, resulting in a consolidated operating margin of 3.5 percent. The company ended the quarter with net debt of $8.4 billion, representing a $0.4 billion decrease from year-end 2003
