Verizon’s Profit Edges Up

Verizon Communications Inc.’s profit edged higher in the third quarter as record growth in wireless and broadband subscribers offset the continuing declines in traditional phone lines at the big telecommunications company that is buying MCI Inc.

Verizon said Thursday that it earned $1.87 billion, or 67 cents a share, in the July-September period, up from $1.8 billion, or 64 cents, a year earlier. Revenue increased 4.6% to $19 billion.

The latest results included a net gain of $37 million from the sale of a New York office building and tax benefits of $115 million that included a repatriation of foreign earnings. Those gains were roughly offset by a $125-million expense related to Verizon’s investment in aircraft leases.

The profit was on target with most Wall Street forecasts, while revenue came in a shade higher than expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Verizon Wireless, owned in partnership with Vodafone Group, accounted for $8.4 billion of Verizon’s revenue total, up 14.2% from the third quarter of 2004. Its cellular subscriber base grew by 1.9 million, ending the quarter at 49.3 million.

Those gains narrowed the subscriber gap between Verizon Wireless and Cingular Wireless, the nation’s biggest cellphone company with 51.4 million customers.

A year ago, when Cingular completed its acquisition of AT&T; Wireless, the lead over Verizon Wireless was greater than 5 million.

Users of wireless Internet and data services, seen as a key area for boosting per-subscriber revenue, totaled 21.6 million at the end of September, up 48% from the year-earlier level.

Subscribers for high-speed Internet service, primarily DSL connections as well as customers for the Fios service over Verizon’s new fiber optic lines in 15 states, grew by 389,000 to 4.5 million.

Also Thursday, Verizon narrowed its full-year projections, saying revenue would total roughly $75.3 billion, up 5.5% to 5.8% from 2004.