AT&T’s fourth quarter results were marked by record smartphone sales, a healthy increase in average revenue per wireless subscriber, and a quarterly loss due primarily to non-cash losses caused by a discount rate change in the company’s pension plan.
The carrier sold 10.2 million smartphones during the third quarter, 8.6 million of which were iPhones. By the end of the quarter, 69% of AT&T wireless postpaid subscribers were using smartphones. Verizon Wireless said earlier this week that it sold 9.8 million smartphones (6.2 million were iPhones) during the quarter and that 69% of its retail postpaid subscribers were using smartphones by year-end.
AT&T (T) reported quarterly revenue of $32.6 billion, up less than half a percent from the same period last year. The carrier lost $3.9 billion, or $0.68 per diluted share, but would have earned $0.44 per share if not for charges related to its pension plan and Hurricane Sandy. Adjusted earnings per share were $0.40 in the year-ago quarter. AT&T repurchased 126.6 million shares during the fourth quarter, at a total cost of $4.4 billion. For the full year, the company repurchased 371 million shares, or about 6 percent of shares outstanding, for $12.8 billion.
Average revenue per user (ARPU) rose 1.9% from the year-ago quarter to $64.98. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said in the company’s earnings call that the company is focusing on mobile data as one of its key growth areas, and that it sees “good momentum with a lot of headroom” for growth.
AT&T added 708,000 postpaid subscribers in the fourth quarter, its largest increase in three years, but still anemic compared to the 2.1 million increase in net postpaid subscribers reported earlier this week by Verizon Wireless.
Capital expenditures, including capitalized interest, totaled $19.7 billion and included a 10.6% year-on-year increase in wireless-related capital investment, much of that focused on next-generation mobile broadband networks. Last year AT&T said that $8 billion of its $14 billion Project Velocity IP will go to wireless infrastructure.
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