AT&T boosted by Warner
October 24, 2018
AT&T reported double-digit increase in Q3 revenues and profit, boosted by the first full quarter incorporating Time Warner. The acquisition helped offset continued losses in pay-TV subscribers and lower service revenues in the mobile and fixed businesses.
Quarterly revenue rose 15.3 per cent to $45.7 billion (€40.09bn) , and excluding the impact of accounting changes, increased 17.5 per cent to $46.6 billion, due to the Time Warner acquisition. Declines in domestic video, legacy wireline services and the Latin American pay-TV business Vrio were offset by growth in wireless equipment and services, WarnerMedia and the new ad business Xandr.
Operating profit was up 25.2 pe rcent to $7.3 billion, and net profit increased to $ 4.7 billion.
The fixed-line division also showed customer losses in satellite TV and broadband. The loss of 359,000 DirecTV satellite customers in the quarter was offset slightly by 13,000 new IPTV customers and 49,000 net additions for DirecTV Now. AT&T said that WatchTV, the newest video product, also added subscribers in the quarter, but did not give exact numbers.
Total revenues for the Entertainment Group, including TV and residential wireline, fell 7.0 percent year-on-year to $11.6 billion.
WarnerMedia had revenues of $8.2 billion, up 6.5 per cent year over year thanks to higher subscription revenues at Turner and HBO and higher television licensing revenues at Warner Bros.