NEW YORK (AP) - Verizon Communications Inc., parent of the country’s largest cellphone carrier, on Thursday said that its net income rose 13 percent in the second quarter as its wireless arm continued to pull in customers and higher fees.
Results on the wired side were notably weaker, however. Like other phone companies, Verizon is losing phone lines, but has been compensating to some extent by signing up broadband customers. In the second quarter, it gained a net 2,000 broadband customers _ the worst result in four years.
Overall, the New York-based phone company earned $1.83 billion, or 64 cents per share, in the April to June period, up from $1.61 billion, or 57 cents per share, a year ago.
The latest earnings match the average forecast of analysts polled by FactSet.
Revenue rose 3.7 percent to $28.5 billion, also in line with analysts’ expectations.
The results come after Verizon shares hit a 10-year high of $46.41 on Wednesday. In pre-market trading Thursday, the shares retreated 75 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $45.14.
Verizon Wireless gained a net 1.2 million subscribers _ a strong result in an industry where subscriber gains have tapered off now that nearly everyone has a cellphone. Of the new subscribers, 888,000 were on contract-based plans, which are the most lucrative.
Verizon Wireless has 94.2 million retail subscribers, making it the biggest wireless carrier in the nation. Arch-rival AT&T Inc. is set to report quarterly results on Tuesday.
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