“Verizon Communications Inc., posted a 21 percent profit drop after business customers cut phone lines alongside jobs. The carrier also plans to trim more than 8,000 positions in the second half,” Amy Thomson reports for Bloomberg.
“Second-quarter net income fell to $1.48 billion, or 52 cents a share, New York-based Verizon said today… A year ago, second-quarter net income amounted to $1.88 billion, or 66 cents… Sales rose 11 percent to $26.9 billion, boosted by Verizon’s purchase of Alltel Corp,” Thomson reports. “Verizon trails only AT&T Inc. in total subscribers.”
“Verizon dropped 44 cents to $31.06 in trading before exchanges opened after closing at $31.50 on the New York Stock Exchange July 24. The stock had declined 7.1 percent this year before today,” Thomson reports.
“New wireless voice customers are becoming rarer, with nine mobile devices in circulation for every 10 people in the U.S. at the end of last year, according to the CTIA wireless industry association,” Thomson reports. “U.S. carriers have looked to Web-equipped phones that can download videos and play music to appeal to consumers… Verizon added 1.1 million wireless subscribers… AT&T added 1.4 million customers last quarter, partly thanks to the debut of the latest generation of Apple Inc.’s iPhone.”
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