story by Roby Brock, a TCW content partner and owner of Talk Business
roby@talkbusiness.net
Windstream continued to see solid growth in its data and broadband services, but the Little Rock-based telecom still saw quarterly revenues slip and net income decline.
Windstream posted 2013 first quarter net income of $52.3 million on revenue of $1.5 billion. One year ago, the company posted net income of $60.4 million on revenue of $1.54 billion.
Still, Windstream officials were upbeat as they noted an improving portfolio of services that tilted away from traditional landline services to a mix of fiber, broadband and data center offerings.
“The business channel now represents 63 percent of revenue and will be an essential driver of our growth in the future,” Windstream CEO Jeff Gardner said. “As a result, we began increasing our business sales force at the end of the quarter and plan to open four new data centers this year to capitalize on further revenue growth opportunities in areas where we are experiencing strong demand.”
Windstream’s business service revenues grew two percent from a year ago. Data and integrated service sales rose eight percent, while carrier service revenues climbed three percent higher. Broadband services saw a five percent gain in revenue, but it was wholesale revenues that provided the biggest hit, falling 17 percent from the previous year.
Officials blamed the slide on “lower switched access revenues from declining consumer voice lines and lower intrastate access rates as part of intercarrier compensation reform implemented in July 2012.”
Windstream has maintained its $1 annual dividend strategy, despite questions from analysts. On Wednesday, Windstream said it would pay its latest 25-cents per share quarterly dividend on July 15, 2013 to shareholders of record as of June 28, 2013.
Earlier this week, Windstream joined Fortune magazine’s prestigious list of the Fortune 500 biggest companies based on revenue.
Windstream shares (NASDAQ: WIN) closed Wednesday at $8.52, up 15 cents from the previous close. During the past 52 weeks the share price has ranged from a $11.05 high to a $7.86 low.