Telephone And Data Systems Posts Profit In Q3; Lowers 2015 Revenue Outlook

(RTTNews) - Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (TDI, TDS) reported a turnaround to profit in the third quarter on higher revenues. Results for the quarter beat analysts' estimates. However, the company lowered its revenue outlook for fiscal 2015.

For fiscal 2015, the company now forecasts operating revenue in a range of $5.145 billion to $5.195 billion, compared to the prior range of $5.145 billion to $5.295 billion. Analysts expect the company to report fiscal 2015 revenue of $5.18 billion.

However, the company raised its outlook for full-year adjusted EBITDA to a range of $1.00 billion to $1.11 billion from the prior range of $890 million to $1.02 billion.

The company noted that during the quarter, U.S. Cellular grew its customer base for the fifth consecutive quarter with strong sales of connected devices and low levels of churn. It also completed the 4G LTE rollout.

TDS Telecom's targeted fiber deployments enabled IPTV in more of its key wireline markets and generated an increase in residential revenue per customer.

Third-quarter net income attributable to TDS shareholders of $51.1 million or $0.46 per share, compared to loss of $116.0 million or $1.07 per share in the comparable period one year ago.

On average, four analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report loss of $0.06 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Total operating revenues for the quarter rose 7 percent to $1.37 billion from $1.28 billion in the prior-year quarter. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.30 billion.