Qwest
“Excellent job” with profitability efforts amid a decline in its land-line phone unit.
Qwest reported a drop in fourth-quarter profit as traditional land-line phone business continued to fall, offsetting a boost in data-services revenue.
Despite the 49 percent quarterly drop in earnings to $185 million, Qwest’s net income of 11 cents per share beat the estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who had expected 10 cents a share.
For the full year, Qwest reported net income of $681 million on revenue of $13.5 billion, down from 2007 net income of $2.9 billion and revenue of $13.8 billion.
Qwest shares rose 8 cents Tuesday to close at $3.45. The stock is down 5.2 percent so far this year.
“We did an excellent job of delivering on . . . profitability initiatives,” said chief executive Ed Mueller in a conference call with analysts. “This was particularly noteworthy given the rapidly deteriorating economic climate.”
Qwest’s revenue from data and Internet services to businesses grew by 9 percent from the same quarter a year earlier.
On the residential-customer side, Internet and video sales were up 9 percent, but the gain was offset by a 9 percent decline in voice-service revenue and a 33 percent drop in wireless sales.
“Qwest’s line-loss hemorrhage continued but showed signs of slowing from last quarter’s rate,” said analyst Karen Brown of Denver-based One Touch Intelligence.
The company’s switch last year from reselling Sprint wireless to offering Verizon as part of bundled services “didn’t do (Qwest) any favors, despite the fact that it stands to gain marketing appeal via Verizon Wireless’ stronger product offering,” said Brown, who noted that Qwest lost 49,000 wireless customers in the fourth quarter.
Qwest disclosed that it cut 1,700 jobs in the quarter, more than the 1,200 layoffs it originally had announced.
“We exceeded our goal in achieving employee reductions that will give us a leg up on this year’s profitability objectives,” Mueller said.
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com
Molson Coors
Lower sales volumes of Miller Lite and other brands may be offset by a new “taste” ad campaign later this month.
NEW YORK — Higher beer prices weren’t enough to safeguard Molson Coors Brewing Co. from the stronger dollar, high commodity costs and declining sales volumes of Miller Lite and other brands, leading the brewer to report a lower profit for its fourth quarter Tuesday.
Denver-based Molson, which partially owns the Mil ler brands in the U.S. through a joint venture with London brewer SABMiller, said its financial results were hurt the most by the strength of the dollar, which turned sales in foreign currencies into less revenue once they were translated into dollars.
But lower sales volumes of Miller Lite and other brands in the U.S., Canada and Britain also took a toll.
Chief executive Peter Swinburn said that drinkers may have balked at higher prices for Mil ler Lite in the U.S., where consumers have been hard hit by rising unemployment and a more- than-year-long recession.
To boost sales of the brand, Molson plans to unveil a new ad campaign at the end of the month. Swinburn declined to offer details but said it will likely focus on “taste.”
For the quarter ended Dec. 28, profit fell 44 percent to $96.8 million, or 52 cents per share, from $173.2 million, or 94 cents per share, a year earlier.
Once discontinued operations and charges related to the joint venture and other items are stripped out, profit was $105.1 million, or 57 cents per share.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who typically exclude one-time costs, expected profit of 71 cents per share.
The brewer said total revenue fell 49 percent to $1.10 billion, but that number does not include sales from the joint venture.
