AT&T cuts 2014 forecast, misses estimates amid price battles

NEW YORK – AT&T Inc., the second-largest U.S. wireless carrier, missed profit estimates and cut its sales forecast as promotions and price cuts took a toll.

Third-quarter earnings, excluding some items, were 63 cents a share, below the 64-cent average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The company reduced its 2014 revenue growth forecast to a range of 3 percent to 4 percent, partly because of fewer-than-expected installment plan sign-ups. That was down from a previous projection of about 5 percent.

To help offset slower growth and increased competition in wireless, AT&T is pushing into new areas like home security and mobile Internet service for cars. It’s also awaiting regulatory approval for the $48.5 billion purchase of satellite-TV provider DirecTV and has been exploring expansion in Latin America.

“This quarter was a follow-through of the repricing of their customer base that started in the beginning of the year,” said Walt Piecyk, an analyst with BTIG LLC. The company has had to accept price cuts as a tradeoff for holding on to customers, he said.

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Better churn

The pressure on AT&T to match rivals’ price cuts continues, with new, lower plans still coming. For example, Sprint Corp., which aggressively started cutting prices in recent months, announced a new family-plan offer earlier yesterday for 1 gigabyte of data for only $20 a month. That’s more than triple the amount of data that $20 gets you at AT&T.

John Stephens, AT&T’s chief financial officer, disputed the notion that the company has had to slash prices in order to gain customers, saying the company has instead added more value to its plans and has added installment plans for smartphones as an alternative for users.

“Our prices have shifted on devices, allowing customers to make their own decisions. That’s not pricing down,” he said. “Through all this noise, our churn has gotten better.”

Churn, or the rate of monthly subscriber defections, was 0.99 percent, down from 1.07 percent in the second quarter.

In late trading yesterday, AT&T shares fell 1.4 percent to $34.

Customer additions

AT&T added 785,000 monthly subscribers, short of the average estimate of 789,000 based on a Bloomberg survey of 10 analysts. The new customer gains compared with Verizon Communications Inc.’s 1.52 million additions.

AT&T signed up about 434,000 tablet subscriptions and 466,000 smartphone lines, compared with Verizon’s 1.1 million new tablet users and 457,000 new phone users.

Two days ago, Verizon missed profit estimates as more new subscribers opted for phone discounts instead of accepting financing for full-priced devices. AT&T is similarly being hit by fewer-than-expected customers signing up for new phone- financing plans.

“It’s purely a pricing battle right now,” Colby Synesael, an analyst with Cowen & Co., said in an interview before the earnings were released. “AT&T wants us to focus on new growth areas like connected home and connected car, but they are going to have to respond to pricing pressure to protect their subscriber base.”

AT&T’s third-quarter sales rose to $32.96 billion, the company said yesterday in a statement, compared with the $33.21 billion average of analysts’ estimate.

Lower outlook

The reduction in its full-year revenue forecast was driven by the sale of landline assets closing earlier than expected and the completion of the sale of its stake in America Movil SAB. Also, the company adjusted its outlook because of fewer customers signing up for or upgrading to installment plans and more subscribers bringing their own device instead of buying one through AT&T.

In the third quarter, 7 percent of customers on smartphone plans brought their own devices instead of buying one from AT&T. That represents a missed opportunity for sales of as much as $650 for each of those customers — the price of high-end devices like Apple Inc.’s iPhone. When AT&T sells a smartphone on an installment plan, it gets to book all that revenue immediately even though it won’t collect payments till later.

AT&T’s wireless-service profit margin, adjusted for integration costs, was 43.1 percent, up from 42 percent a year ago. Analysts had projected a service margin of 42 percent, based on a Bloomberg survey of nine estimates.

The average customer bill, excluding installment payments for devices, fell 8 percent from a year earlier to $62.45. Including installment payments, the decline was 3.4 percent from a year earlier to $65.63. That did represent a 2 percent gain from the second quarter.

DirecTV plan

In AT&T’s landline video-and-broadband business, called U- verse, the company added 601,000 Internet users and 216,000 video subscribers.

Aiming to build its video business, AT&T agreed in May to buy El Segundo, California-based DirecTV. As part of the deal, AT&T will gain stakes in satellite-TV businesses in Mexico and Brazil, opening the possibility for more acquisitions.

AT&T said earlier yesterday that it still expects the DirecTV deal to close in the first half of next year. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission stopped the clock on the deal review yesterday to resolve disputes over who can see programming contracts, creating the risk that the takeover may take longer to complete.

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