Windstream Corp. (NYSE: WIN) reported Thursday that the company suffered a 7 percent drop in fourth-quarter earnings, citing a loss in traditional phone customers and higher costs, according to Associated Press.
The company earned $75.5 million, or 17 cents per share, compared with $81.1 million, or 19 cents per share, in the same quarter a year earlier. In the latest period, Windstream booked 8 cents per share in charges related to pension expenses, merger and integration costs, restructuring charges and amortization expenses.
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Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting 20 cents per share in profit. These estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Revenue dropped by 3 percent to $754.4 million from $777.5 million but still topped analysts' $739 million forecast.
Windstream said it added 27,500 net new high-speed Internet customers during the quarter, to end the period with a total of 1.13 million subscribers. The net additions are up 57 percent from the 2008 quarter.
Windstream added just 9,900 net new digital TV customers during the quarter as it offers Dish Network Corp.'s satellite TV service. This figure was down 49 percent from the prior year. Windstream ended the quarter with 369,400 digital TV customers.
The phone company said traditional phone customers continued to drop service. Net access lines fell by 35,000 to 3 million after adjusting for its acquisitions of Lexcom Inc. and D&E Communications Inc.
The company said customers paid on average $82.31 a month, up 2 percent year-over-year.
For the full year, Windstream earned $334.5 million, or 76 cents per share, compared with a profit of $412.7 million, or 93 cents per share, in 2008. Revenue fell 6 percent to $3 billion.
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