Verizon Communications Inc. added 565,000 of the wireless
industry's most profitable customers in the first three months of
the year, as its profit easily topped Wall Street expectations.
The country's largest wireless carrier has faced intense
competition in the U.S. with rivals such as T-Mobile US Inc. and
Sprint Corp. offering deals and paying subscribers to switch to
their services.
Verizon had warned in March that wireless-service cancellations
would be elevated in the first quarter.
However, for the quarter ended March 31, postpaid churn edged
down to 1.03% from 1.07% a year ago.
Overall, Verizon posted earnings of $4.34 billion, or $1.02 a
share, compared with $5.99 billion, or $1.15 a share, a year
earlier.
Revenue grew 3.8% to $32 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast 95 cents a share
in earnings and $32.3 billion in revenue.
Verizon is the first big wireless carrier to report results for
the first quarter.
Last week, Verizon said its FiOS service would offer new TV
packages aimed at giving customers flexibility to purchase only
certain groups of channels they want to watch. The move comes as
pay-TV distributors such as Verizon are facing mounting pressure to
give consumers more choice in how they buy TV.
In the latest quarter, Verizon added a net 90,000 FiOS video
subscribers, up from 57,000 a year ago.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com
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