AT&T today said it lost $7.1 billion in the third quarter, reflecting a write-down in the value of its traditional long-distance network as well as one-time expenses tied to its latest round of layoffs.
Sales fell nearly 12 per cent to $7.6 billion from a year earlier, though revenue was flat when compared with the prior second quarter, AT&T said.
Wall Street was expecting sales of around $7.33 billion. Looking ahead, however, AT&T said it expects stiff competition to "negatively impact" revenue in the last three months of the year.
For the third quarter, AT&T reported a net loss of $7.1 billion, or $8.95 a share, compared with income of $418 million, or 53 cents, a year ago. Excluding $12.5 billion one-time charges, the company earned $593 million, or 75 cents a share. That figure included a tax benefit of 42 cents a share.
Earlier this month, AT&T unveiled plans to write down its network by $11.4 billion and cut more than 7,000 additional jobs as it tries to trim costs and reorganize amid a retreat from the consumer phone business.
The latest round of layoffs resulted in a one-time cost of $1.1 billion, but will save $1.2 billion annually, the company said.
AT&T recently decided to stop marketing phone service to consumers, citing a series of regulatory setbacks that have made it more difficult to service those accounts.
During the third quarter, consumer revenue dropped 15 per cent to $2 billion from a year earlier. The company's corporate-services segment experienced a 10 per cent decline in sales to $5.6 billion, though revenue held steady from the prior second quarter.
AT&T has been under siege for several years as new competitors enter the long-distance market and prices for phone service have fallen. It's now focusing on its corporate-services business and exploring alternative consumer technologies such as Internet phone service.