Alltel Q3 earnings jump 14%

Alltel today reported net income for third quarter 2002 of $262 million, or 84 cents per share, a 14% increase over the $230.7 million, or 74 cents per share, posted in the year ago quarter. The performance beat the 80 cents-per-share estimate of analysts polled by Thomson-First Call. Alltel today closed 71 cents higher, on volume of 1.07 million shares traded.

EBITDA for the quarter was $818.2 million, a 10% increase year over year. Wireline EBITDA stood at $332.2 million, a 15% increase year over year, while wireless EBITDA was $406.2 million, a 9% increase over the year ago quarter. GAAP earnings, which reflect one-time charges and special items, were 76 cents, a five-cent-per-share increase over the same quarter last year.

Total revenues for the quarter were $2.1 billion, an 11% increase over the $1.9 billion posted in third quarter 2001. Wireline revenues increased 17% year over year, to $576 million. The company reported that it added 590,000 local service customers in Kentucky during the quarter, stemming from the purchase of access lines from Verizon Communications.

Alltel’s wireless unit fared nearly as well, with a 12% year-over-year revenue increase to $1.09 billion. The carrier added more than 760,000 new wireless customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Texas and Wisconsin and reported a 2.18% churn rate for the quarter, the fourth sequential quarter of reduced churn.

Alltel President Scott Ford said in a statement that the performance exceeded the “high end” of the company’s expectations. "The company continues to produce solid growth, driven this quarter by communications revenues and sound performances in the newly acquired wireline and wireless markets," Ford said. -- Glenn Bischoff, senior writer