AT&T Q2 Profit In Line With Street, But Revenues Miss

(RTTNews) - AT&T Inc. (T) Thursday reported an increase in second-quarter profit, as revenues jumped 22 percent reflecting the acquisition of satellite TV operator DIRECTV. Earnings for the quarter came in line with Wall Street estimates, while revenues fell short of expectations.

Dallas, Texas-based telecom giant's second-quarter profit rose to $3.41 billion or $0.55 per share from $3.08 billion or $0.59 per share last year.

Excluding special items, adjusted earnings were $0.72 per share. On average, 26 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.72 per share for the quarter.

AT&T's revenues for the quarter rose to $40.52 billion from $33.02 billion last year. Analyst had predicted revenues of $40.63 billion.

AT&T added a total of 185 thousand postpaid subscribers in the quarter. Postpaid churn rate for the quarter was 0.97 percent, down from 1.10 percent last quarter and 1.01 percent last year.

The company said that it added a total of 342 thousand U.S. DIRECTV subscribers and 38 thousand global TV subscribers in the quarter.

Revenue growth reflects the acquisition of satellite TV operator DirecTV. Last July, AT&T closed its $48.5 billion acquisition of DirecTV thus becoming the largest U.S. pay-TV provider.

T closed Thursday's trading at $42.52, down $0.19 or 0.44% on the NYSE. The stock further dropped $0.56 or 1.32 % in the after-hours trade.