AT&T posts nearly $1 billion first-quarter loss

Despite losing nearly $1 billion in the first quarter, AT&T Chairman and CEO C. Michael Armstrong is confident his company is ready to weather the current economy and continue to grow.

AT&T reported that its first-quarter loss widened to $975 million, or 28 cents per share, from $192 million, or 10 cents a share last year. First-quarter profits, however, were 6 cents a share, compared with a year-ago loss of 2 cents, while pro forma revenues, impacted by the company’s shutdown of its Excite@Home stake, fell 8.4%.

The company cited continued weakness in its long-distance consumer voice business as the main reason for the decline. Revenue there dropped 22% to $3.13 billion while corporate-service sales declined 8% to $6.53 billion, compared with last quarter’s $6.88 billion sales figure.

Not surprisingly, considering the generally upbeat reports coming from around the cable industry, the company said its broadband cable unit’s revenues increased 14% to $2.44 billion. AT&T is planning to sell that unit to Comcast later this year, pending the necessary approvals.

Even with the lowered figures, Armstrong was confident of the company’s performance.

“The quarter reflects that we have the assets, the operational execution, the financial discipline, the cash generation, the balance sheet strength to conduct a sound business, to grow our business and to have an attractive future,” he said.

That future will, however, include similar depressed predictions for the ongoing second quarter, the company said, predicting a revenue decline of about 8.4%.