Verizon Communications announced first-quarter 2015 results. The company reported $1.02 in EPS in first-quarter 2015, compared with $1.15 per share in Q1 2014.
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There were no non-operational adjustments to first-quarter 2015 per-share results; first-quarter-2014 results included non-operational gains related to Verizon’s acquisition of full ownership of Verizon Wireless in February 2014.
First-quarter 2015 earnings of $1.02 per share compares with 84 cents per share in adjusted EPS (non-GAAP) in first-quarter 2014 – an increase of 21.4 percent.
In first-quarter 2015, Verizon agreed to sell its local wireline operations serving customers in three states to Frontier Communications, monetized wireless tower assets in a transaction with American Tower, and announced an accelerated share-repurchase program to return $5 billion in capital to shareholders.
The company also completed the purchase of $10.4 billion in spectrum in the Federal Communications Commission’s AWS-3 auction.
Total operating revenues in first-quarter 2015 were $32 billion, a 3.8 percent increase compared with first-quarter 2014. Excluding first-quarter 2014 revenues from a business that has since been sold, the comparable year-over-year growth rate (non-GAAP) would have been 4.2 percent.
Continued effective cost management drove first-quarter 2015 operating income to $8 billion, an 11.2 percent increase compared with first-quarter 2014 Consolidated operating income margin was 24.9 percent in first-quarter 2015, compared with 23.2 percent in first-quarter 2014.
Consolidated EBITDA margin (non-GAAP, based on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was 37.4 percent in first-quarter 2015, compared with 36.7 percent in first-quarter 2014.
Cash flow from operating activities increased to $10.2 billion in first-quarter 2015, compared with $7.1 billion in first-quarter 2014. The $10.2 billion included a non-recurring $2.4 billion related to the monetization of tower assets.
Excluding the tower-transaction impact, free cash flow (non-GAAP, cash flow from operations less capital expenditures) totaled about $4.2 billion in first-quarter 2015, compared with $3.0 billion in first-quarter 2014. Verizon continues to expect full-year 2015 capital expenditures to range between $17.5 billion and $18 billion. ■