Four Baby Bells Report Mixed Results

BellSouth Corp., the largest regional telephone company spun off in the breakup of the Bell System, said Wednesday that its first-quarter profit dropped 4.8%, while Southwestern Bell Corp. reported an 8% drop.

Bell Atlantic Corp., meanwhile, said its after-tax profit rose 7%. Ameritech said it had a 2.1% gain.

BellSouth, which has its headquarters in Atlanta, reported net income of $430.9 million in the first three months of the year, compared to earnings of $452.4 million the previous year. Revenue rose to $3.11 billion from $2.94 billion.

Southwestern Bell, which is based in St. Louis, reported an after-tax profit of $218.7 million on revenue of $2 billion. That compared to net income of $237.7 million on revenue of $1.88 billion a year earlier.

Bell Atlantic, in Philadelphia, said its net income totaled $329.1 million, compared to $307.5 million. Revenue rose to $2.5 billion from $2.46 billion.

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Ameritech, based in Chicago, reported earnings of $295.1 million, compared to $289 million. Revenue rose to $2.4 billion from $2.3 billion.

BellSouth Chairman John L. Clendenin said he was pleased with the quarter despite the decline in earnings, saying the company had not expected to improve on the strong results of the year-ago period.

Southwestern Bell said its earnings decline was due to continued costs associated with the $1.38 billion acquisition of Metromedia Paging Services in September. “First-quarter performance was on target with what we’d expected,” Chairman Zane E. Barnes said.

Bell Atlantic Chairman Thomas E. Bolger attributed his company’s increase in profit to the strength of the economy in the mid-Atlantic region.

Ameritech said its profit gain was held down by increased costs for wages and depreciation.

The companies are among the seven regional telephone companies created by the court-ordered break-up of American Telephone & Telegraph Co. on Jan. 1, 1984.