AT&T Senior Executive Vice President and CFO John Stephens Updates Shareholders
November 20 2020 - 08:27PM
Business Wire
John Stephens, senior executive vice president and chief
financial officer of AT&T Inc.* (NYSE:T), spoke today at the
Morgan Stanley European Tech, Media and Telecommunications
Conference where he provided an update to shareholders. He touched
on the following areas:
Customer-centric focus continues to resonate across
strategic areas of broadband connectivity (both 5G and fiber) and
software-based entertainment. Stephens said he is pleased to see
momentum from the third quarter continue in postpaid wireless. He
further noted that the ability to further reduce churn, drive
incremental adoption of higher-tier unlimited plans that include
HBO Max, showcase the company’s industry leading network and give
customers what they want should yield positive long-term value
creation across AT&T’s customer base. In addition, the
combination of HBO Max’s availability on Amazon’s Fire TV and the
launch of Wonder Woman 84 on HBO Max and in theaters simultaneously
December 25 should expand HBO Max’s attractiveness to both existing
and new customers.
Strong cash generation and disciplined capital allocation
gives AT&T financial strength and flexibility to invest in
growth in its market-based priorities of fiber, 5G and HBO Max
while simultaneously meeting its existing financial commitments.
The company has refinanced more than $60 billion of debt at
historically low rates and now has about $30 billion of debt coming
due through 2025. AT&T expects 2020 full-year free cash flow of
$26 billion or higher with a full year dividend payout ratio
percentage in the high 50s%.1 The company also continues to expect
gross capital investment in the $20 billion range for 2020.2
Network quality driven by significant investments in 5G and
fiber helped support strong wireless financial and operational
results and healthy broadband trends in the third quarter. In
addition, the company believes that its recent and anticipated
network investments will bolster AT&T’s network foundation to
compete as the need for high-quality connectivity only continues to
increase. Looking forward, Stephens indicated that AT&T’s
integrated fiber strategy is expected to improve the company’s
connectivity offering for both consumer and enterprise markets and
enhance its 5G network quality in a cost-efficient manner.
Business transformation efforts are on track with the
company’s expectations and have already delivered savings from
efficiencies, organizational alignments and the optimization of
cash returns from select business operating units. AT&T remains
focused on adding value for its customers through improved
experiences and continued innovation, while simultaneously relying
on technology and process improvements to enhance returns across
its operations.
1 Free cash flow dividend payout ratio is total dividends paid
divided by free cash flow. Free cash flow is cash from operating
activities minus capital expenditures. Due to high variability and
difficulty in predicting items that impact cash from operating
activities and capital expenditures, the company is not able to
provide a reconciliation between projected free cash flow and the
most comparable GAAP metric without unreasonable effort. 2 Gross
capital investment includes capital expenditures and cash payments
for vendor financing and excludes expected FirstNet reimbursements;
in 2020, vendor financing is expected to be in the $3 billion range
and FirstNet reimbursements are expected to be about $1
billion.
*About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a diversified, global leader in
telecommunications, media and entertainment, and technology.
WarnerMedia is a leading media and entertainment company that
creates and distributes premium and popular content to global
audiences through its consumer brands, including: HBO, HBO Max,
Warner Bros., TNT, TBS, truTV, CNN, DC Entertainment, New Line,
Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Turner Classic Movies. Xandr, now
part of WarnerMedia, provides marketers with innovative and
relevant advertising solutions for consumers around premium video
content and digital advertising through its platform. AT&T
Communications provides more than 100 million U.S. consumers with
entertainment and communications experiences across TV, mobile and
broadband. Plus, it serves high-speed, highly secure connectivity
and smart solutions to nearly 3 million business customers.
AT&T Latin America provides pay-TV services across 10 countries
and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean and wireless
services to consumers and businesses in Mexico.
AT&T products and services are provided or offered by
subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T
brand and not by AT&T Inc. Additional information is available
at about.att.com. © 2020 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights
reserved. AT&T, the Globe logo and other marks are trademarks
and service marks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T
affiliated companies. FirstNet and the FirstNet logo are registered
trademarks and service marks of the First Responder Network
Authority. All other marks contained herein are the property of
their respective owners.
Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements
Information set forth in this news release contains financial
estimates and other forward-looking statements that are subject to
risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ
materially. A discussion of factors that may affect future results
is contained in AT&T’s filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. AT&T disclaims any obligation to update and revise
statements contained in this news release based on new information
or otherwise.
This news release may contain certain non-GAAP financial
measures. Reconciliations between the non-GAAP financial measures
and the GAAP financial measures are available on the company’s
website at https://investors.att.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201120005771/en/
Fletcher Cook AT&T Phone: 214-912-8541 Email:
fletcher.cook@att.com
Daphne Avila AT&T Inc. Phone: (972) 266-3866 Email:
daphne.avila@att.com
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