Verizon Communications on Tuesday published its consolidated financial report for the final quarter of 2017, revealing strong growth and significantly improved earnings compared to Q4 2016. Consolidated operating revenues amounted to $34 billion, with Verizon recording $18.8 billion in net income over the three-month period ending December 31st, five percentage points up year-on-year. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization are estimated at $9.2 billion, with the wireless carrier posting 1.2 million retail postpaid additions over the quarter. Earnings per share rose to $4.56, a significant increase compared to $1.10 posted in the last quarter of 2016.
Besides a one-time $16.8 billion boost to its financials provided by the recent corporate tax reform in the United States that Verizon already predicted, the New York-based conglomerate revealed it’s expecting the legislation to allow for smaller yet still significant savings going forward. In the immediate future, the firm expects between $3.5 billion and $4 billion in extra operating cash flow over the course of 2018 as a direct result of the reform. Its overall EPS for the entirety of 2018 should hence be improved by 55 to 65 cents, not accounting for the aforementioned spike. Verizon’s Oath division that includes the assets previously purchased from AOL and Yahoo posted $2.2 billion in total revenue in Q4 2017, improving its annual performance by approximately ten percentage points. The boost itself may not be a start of a long-term trend but simply a side effect of the holiday season which traditionally leads to more advertising dollars being spent, Verizon said, suggesting Oath’s results may decline during the current quarter.
The mobile service provider reiterated its plans to deploy 5G broadband solutions by the end of the year as part of its latest financials. The exact scope of its related investments remains unclear, with the company only saying its total capital expenditures will amount to between $17 billion and $17.8 billion in 2018. Verizon is also focusing on expanding the scope of its 1Gbps offerings, whereas its 5G project is meant to debut based on a proprietary standard before transitioning to an international one by the end of the year. Fixed wireless access solutions weren’t specifically mentioned in the report but one such service should be launched by Verizon in the second half of the year, as per the company’s previous statements on the matter.