OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Embarq Corp. bumped up its revenue and operating income guidance for 2006, despite increased costs last quarter related to its separation from Sprint Nextel Corp.
The local-line company was recently spun off from Sprint Nextel Corp., and this was its first full quarter reporting as an independent company.
Embarq reported third quarter consolidated revenues of $1.61 billion, or a gain of about 0.2 percent compared with the company’s pro forma performance a year ago. Net income for the quarter was $160 million, or about $82 million less than the same period last year. Embarq was impacted by separation-related expenses and competition in consumer markets, the company indicated.
In wireless, Embarq added 19,000 net new subscribers, bringing its total wireless customer base to 24,000. Landline access lines decreased around 6 percent overall, with just 1.4 percent of Embarq’s business customers leaving. Meanwhile, the company matched its previous record for net additions of high speed Internet subscribers (84,000) and added 15,000 entertainment services subscribers; about 146,000 of Embarq’s customers now subscribe to entertainment service, which the company said was more than twice the figure a year ago.
“Our results this quarter were ahead of our expectations in several areas,” said Dan Hesse, Embarq’s chairman and chief executive officer.
