Windstream earns a penny per share in the second quarter, beats market estimates
by August 4, 2016 8:53 am 169 views
Windstream Holdings turned a small profit in the second quarter as the Little Rock-based telecom sold off all of its shares in Communications Sales & Leasing and cut debt by nearly $700 million, company officials announced Thursday (Aug. 4) morning.
For the period ended June 30, Windstream reported net income was $1.5 million, one penny per share, compared to a loss of $111 million, or $1.13 per share, in the same period a year ago. Total revenue was down slightly to $1.36 billion, compared to year ago sales of $1.42 billion.
Wall Street had expected the Arkansas Fortune 500 telecom to report a second quarter loss of 35 cents per share on revenue of $1.37 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.
“We are making solid progress on achieving our 2016 goals. Each business unit is executing an operational strategy to advance the goal of stabilizing and growing operating cash flow over time,” said Windstream President and CEO Tony Thomas. “We are making the right investments and optimizing the balance sheet. All of which will drive improving results and create value for investors.”
During the quarter, Windstream completed the sale of its remaining stock and interest in Communications Sales & Leasing (CS&L) in a debt-for-equity exchange to retire approximately $672 million in debt. Year-to-date, the company has lowered debt by $740 million, officials said.
Following the spinoff of CS&L in April 2015, Windstream retained a 20% equity stake in the Little Rock real estate investment trust. The company’s long term debt now stands at $4.73 billion and reported free cash flow of $100 million.
Windstream said it expects total service revenue for fiscal 2016 to be in the range of $5.275 billion to $5.425 billion. The Little Rock technology company said its capital expenditures are expected to be between $800 million and $850 million, which excludes approximately $200 million in expected investments to complete Project Excel.
Project Excel accelerates Windstream’s plans to upgrade and modernize its broadband capabilities to the latest technology by year-end 2016, or two years ahead of the company’s previous timeline, company officials said.
Windstream shares (NASDAQ: WIN) closed down four cents to $8.99 at the close of business Wednesday. The company’s shares have traded in the range of $4.75 and $9.74 over the past 52 weeks.