AT&T post losses

Things can’t be good when the lifeblood of your business hits its lowest point ever. For AT&T Communications, which reported its fourth quarter earnings, that was exactly the case with its long distance business.

“Long distance was less than 50% of our total revenue base for the first time in our history,” said chairman and CEO C. Michael Armstrong.

AT&T earned $0.05 per diluted share from continuing operations, excluding charges, which was in line with the company’s guidance of $0.03 to $0.06. In contrast though, that number was $0.24 per diluted share from the year-ago quarter. AT&T took a loss of $0.39 per diluted share from continuing operations, or $1.39 billion, compared to a loss of $0.52 per diluted share for the year-ago quarter.

Overall, pro forma revenue declined 6.1% to $12.6 billion. Revenue for the full year was $52.55 billion, which was a decline of 5.6 percent on a pro forma basis.

AT&T’s losses were worsened by the $1 billion plus restructuring charge it had as a result of cutting over 10,000 jobs last year. The loss would have apparently been much higher if the provider had not done the employee reductions.

AT&T placed the blame for its woes on the weakened economy, increased competition from the RBOCs and providers such as Qwest selling services at prices that prevent good margins from being attained. The company also suffered from the @Home shutdown to the tune of negative $56 million, according to Armstrong.