Verizon reports 4Q loss on pension costs

Verizon Droid Turbo phone (Facebook photo)

NEW YORK — Verizon Communications Inc. on Thursday reported a fourth-quarter loss of $2.23 billion, hurt by pension and severance costs.

Revenue rose 7 percent, beating expectations, helped by strong wireless subscriber growth and demand for its high-speed FiOS Internet services.

Verizon, which bought out its wireless division from British cellphone carrier Vodafone Group last year, said it added 2.1 million net retail connections during the quarter. It added 672,000 net postpaid phones and 1.4 million new tablets.

The New York-based company said it had a loss of 54 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 71 cents per share. A year ago net income totaled $5.07 billion, or $1.76 per share. The results met Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was also for earnings of 71 cents per share.

The largest U.S. cellphone carrier said revenue rose 7 percent to $33.19 billion from $31.07 billion last year, topping Street forecasts. Analysts expected $32.53 billion, according to Zacks. The company forecast a 4 percent revenue increase in 2015.

Verizon shares have climbed 3 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has declined slightly more than 1 percent. The stock has climbed 1 percent in the last 12 months.