Net profit increased to USD 3.8 billion or 72 cents a share, from USD 3.6 billion or 63 cents a share, thanks in part to tax benefits and a gain on the sale of spectrum. Excluding the one-time items, EPS rose 6.5 percent. After capex of USD 6.2 billion, the operator generated cash flow of USD 3.2 billion. It also spent USD 1.9 billion on share repurchases in the period.
In the mobile market, AT&T added a net 989,000 new customers in the three months, including 363,000 postpaid users (178,000 smartphones and 388,000 tablets), 192,000 prepaid customers and 719,000 connected devices. Resellers lost a net 285,000 customers due to losses in the 2G market. Mobile service revenues rose 3.7 percent year-on-year to USD 15.7 billion, led by a 17.5 percent rise in data revenues, with 75 percent of AT&T's postpaid customers now using smartphones. Mobile operating profit increased 3.4 percent to USD 4.6 billion.
In the fixed-line market, AT&T grew residential revenues 2.4 percent to USD 5.6 billion, while business revenues fell 2.6 percent to USD 8.8 billion. Wireline operating profit was down 13.7 percent to USD 1.5 billion, on extra costs for growth in customer numbers and the Project VIP to expand access to new services. U-verse gained 265,000 new TV customers in the quarter for a total 5.3 million, while the U-verse internet base rose by 655,000 to 9.7 million, not quite offsetting the loss of DSL customers.
