Saturday, October 23, 1999
TRISTATE EARNINGS REPORTS
Big increase for Cincinnati Bell
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Dramatic growth in digital subscriber line and broadband services fueled a 42 percent increase in Cincinnati Bell Inc.'s third-quarter earnings.
For the three months ended Sept. 30, Bell said net income from continuing operations was $29.8 million, or 22 cents a share, up from $21 million, or 15 cents a share, a year earlier. The year-ago earnings exclude $27.4 million, or 20 cents a share, from Bell's since spun-off Convergys Corp. billing and customer care business.
Revenues grew 18 percent to $262.4 million from $222.6 million a year ago.
Bell, in the midst of completing a $3 billion acquisition of IXC Communications Inc., an Austin, Texas-based fiber-optic network provider, said it added 4,000 subscribers to its ZoomTown digital subscriber line service during the quarter, an increase of 50 percent to 12,000 subscribers.
Subscribers to Bell's Fuse Internet service increased 67 percent to more than 45,000 from 27,179 a year ago.
And subscribers to Cincin nati Bell Wireless, the company's digital wireless phone service in the Cincinnati-Dayton region, increased almost 24,000 in the quarter to 112,000.
Rick Ellenberger, Bell's president and CEO, said Bell and IXC employees are working on integrating the businesses.
Shareholders of Bell and IXC will vote on the merger of the two companies Friday.
In another earnings report:
• QUEBECOR PRINTING INC.: The world's biggest commercial printer said third-quarter profit rose 21 percent, helped by retooled plants in the United States and the purchase of World Color Press Inc.
Montreal-based Quebecor Oct. 8 completed its $2.9 billion purchase of World Color, which operates three plants and employs about 1,000 in Greater Cincinnati.
Quebecor's net income rose to $53 million, or 44 cents a share, from $44 million, or 38 cents, a year earlier. Revenue increased 31 percent to $1.26 billion from $957 million a year earlier.
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