2007

Level 3 CEO compensation hits$10.7 million

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 06:59:54 -0400

Level 3 Communications CEO James Crowe received compensation for 2007 totaling about $10.7 million, up from about $8.7 million in 2006. Level 3 had a dismal year, struggling through M&A integration and overall poor financial performance to the point where its stock value declined more than 60 percent during 2007. Level 3 had already announced that because of this, executives would not be getting salary bonuses. However, on top of his $790,385 salary, Crowe did receive stock and options awards from the company's board of directors that totaled about $9.8 million.

For more:
- read this report at The Denver Business Journal

Related article:
- Departed COO Kevin O'Hara got a nice, long good-bye from Level 3

AP: Windstream CEO made $4.2 million

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:59:56 -0400

The latest in a series of Associated Press reports of CEO compensation shows that Jeffrey Gardner, CEO and president of independent telco Windstream Communications, took home $4.2 million during 2007. That figure is a whopping 58 percent less than Gardner was paid for 2006, mostly due to lower performance-based incentives being paid for 2007 than for 2006. The company's stock price fell about 8 percent during the year, but Windstream posted strong revenue growth for the fourth quarter of 2007. Gardner's perks for last year included use of a company plane and annual country club dues.

Readers of this AP story will get a different take on Gardner's compensation than those tracking the Securities and Exchange Commission filing Windstream made regarding executive compensation. The SEC filing actually says Gardner had total compensation of $5.84 million for 2007. Note the paragraph at the end of the AP story explaining AP's calculations. For your full informational needs, we also link to an ArkansasBusiness.com story which itself contains a link to the actual SEC filing.

For more:
- read this Associated Press story at Forbes
- and here's the report at ArkansasBusiness.com

Related article:
- AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson collected $18 million for his 2007 performance

China Telecom sees profit, local revenue dip

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 07:59:53 -0400

China Telecom is awaiting a major restructuring of the Chinese telecom industry that will see China Unicom divided in two and handed over to landline leaders China Telecom and China Netcom. That restructuring has been rumored for months, but may not happen until after the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. In any case, the change will come none to soon for China Telecom, which reported that its net profit dropped about 13 percent last year, as revenue from local phone services was down about 9.8 percent. The primary culprit in an ongoing decline for the telco has been its loss of customers moving to mobile.

For more:
- see this Associated Press report at The New York Times

Related article:
- A formal word on China's telecom industry changes has been much-anticipated

Appeals panel gives Nacchio second chance

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:59:57 -0400

Former Qwest Communications CEO Joe Nacchio will get a do-over. A three-judge federal appeals panel issued a 2-1 ruling that Nacchio should get a new trial over charges of insider trading because an expert witness was not allowed to testify on Nacchio's behalf during the first trial. There was no mention, however, of Nacchio's allegation that Qwest was denied significant federal government contracts because he declined to help the feds in their warrantless wiretapping program.

The appeals panel decision came almost 11 months to the day that Nacchio was first convicted on 19 counts of insider trading and three months after Nacchio's lawyers pleaded their case to the panel. Federal prosecutors now need to decide if they want to appeal the panel's ruling to the broader appeals court, or if they want to go ahead and re-try Nacchio. They could also just drop the charges, too.

For more:
- read this story at The New York Times
- see this chronology of the Nacchio saga at The Denver Post

Related article:
- Cliff Stricklin, the lead federal prosecutor in the first Nacchio trial, has since joined a private sector law firm

Seidenberg takes home $20.3 million

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:59:56 -0400

Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg saw his total compensation package reach about $20.3 million for 2007, a very slight increase over what Seidenberg was paid the previous year, according to a report from the Associated Press. The compensation counted a salary of $2.1 million, a bonus of $4.2 million, a stock award of about $13.1 million and perks worth about $825,312, including $149,023 worth of personal use of a corporate aircraft.

Verizon said in a regulatory filing yesterday that the company had hit all marks during 2007 on which CEO pay is based. The company's stock value has been sagging since 2008 opened, making it easy to forget the stock price actually rose more than 17 percent during 2007. So, we'll ask the same question we asked recently when BusinessWeek reported compensation figures for AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson: Is Seidenberg's compensation fair or out of whack? Post a comment and let us know what you think.

For more:
- read this article from the Associated Press

Related article:
- Stephenson, who spent half of 2007 as CEO of AT&T and half as vice chairman, collected $18 million last year

AT&T CEO collects $18 million in pay, perks

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:59:57 -0400

AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson earned about $18 million last year-about $1.2 million in salary and the rest in performance-based bonuses and stock awards, according to BusinessWeek, which does not rely on company figures and uses its own methods to calculate such things. The non-salary compensation included more than $89,000 worth of personal use of a company plane, more than $15,000 for a home security system and more than $10,000 for a club membership. No one seems to care so far, but those figures might raise eyebrows if the employer were a company other than AT&T. For example, Qwest Communications CEO Ed Mueller was lambasted by some company watchers for a perk that allowed his family to use the corporate jet.

AT&T had a very good year in 2007, rolling out U-verse rapidly, while posting impressive customer and financial numbers. Of course, Stephenson was only in charge for about seven months of 2007. More recently, AT&T has reported seeing some market softness. Do any of these perks seem out of whack, or do they seem perfectly in line with the stature of the job? Post a comment and let us know what you think.

For more:
- read this story at BusinessWeek

Related articles:
- The jet flap landed Ed Mueller in controversy not long after he took over Qwest

PCCW looks for international opportunities

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 06:59:54 -0500

Hong Kong service provider PCCW is stressing its desire to pursue international growth opportunities, after reporting earnings that showed a 20 percent increase in net income, but a seven percent overall decline in revenue. Actually, the company's real estate unit was responsible for the revenue decline; its telecom operations grew revenue by 12 percent. PCCW also saw TV subscriber numbers rise about 16 percent to 882,000, while overall wireline subscribers remained flat at about 1.4 million.

The international interest follows recent news that PCCW was part of a consortium that won a fixed-line license to operate in Saudi Arabia.

For more:
- see this report from TeleGeography
- or this article at The Financial Times

Related articles:
- For more PCCW news look here

Sprint Nextel reports $29.5 billion loss

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 06:59:56 -0500

It was hard to find any silver lining in Sprint Nextel's fourth-quarter 2007 earnings report, though if there was one, it was the very faint glimmer of hope offered by a 75% increase in adjusted operating income to $194 million from the company's wireline unit. Still, wireline revenue was down about 1%.

The carrier reported a $29.5 billion loss, as CEO Dan Hesse acknowledged in so many words that things are in worse shape than he first thought when he came on board at the end of last year. Hesse also offered virtually no hope for a short-term rebound, and said the company would stop paying a dividend for now. The company is looking to write down its remaining $30.7 billion in goodwill value from its 2005 Nextel merger.

For more:
- check out this report at The Washington Post

Related article:
- Hesse departed Embarq in December to take the helm at Sprint Nextel

Nortel to cut 2,100 jobs after big Q4 loss

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 06:59:54 -0500

Nortel Networks had been looking like a company in recovery for the last several months, but the Canadian vendor just reported an $844 million net loss for the fourth quarter of 2007, versus an $80 million loss for the same period in 2006. The company also said it is cutting about 2,100 jobs globally as part of further restructuring.

Revenue for the quarter came in at about $3.2 billion, close to analyst esitmates of $3.28 billion. The full-year 2007 loss for Nortel was $957 million. The company said it sees low-single-digit revenue growth for the rest of this year. During the second half of 2007, Nortel actually seemed to be primed to tackle an M&A strategy to put it back at the carrier table with the world's largest equipment vendors. It's unclear where such ambitions stand now.

For more:
- see this Associated Press report at BusinessWeek

Related article:
- Nortel's tough Q4 came after a pretty good Q3

Qwest net income increases, revenue slides

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 06:59:57 -0500

Qwest Communications is continuing to show improvement, as the carrier reported a profit increase for the fourth quarter of 89% to $366 million, from $194 million in Q4 2006. The net income boost resulted in a doubling of earnings-per-share to 20 cents for the latest quarter. However, it wasn't revenue that drove the rise, but ongoing reductions in operational costs, plus a tax benefit. Revenue actually dropped 1.5% for the quarter to $3.44 billion, but operational expenses declined more than 6%.

Meanwhile, Qwest saw access line decline of 6.5%, which is a higher rate of loss than many other telcos showed for the quarter. Voice revenue slid 7.4%, and adding further fuel to speculation that broadband adoption is slowing industry-wide, Qwest gained 95,000 broadband customers during the quarter, about 70,000 less than it gained for the same period in 2006.

For more:
- read this Dow Jones Newswires story at CNN Money

Related articles:
- Qwest announced a $300 million FTTN plan with its third-quarter 2007 earnings

Is another telecom downturn coming?

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 06:59:58 -0500

Telecom service providers for the most part reported pretty solid fourth quarter earnings, while some equipment makers did well and others just managed to maintain positive numbers. The most common attribute across the board was that most telecom companies are tempering their outlooks for 2008. The upward trend of involuntary customer disconnects could have something to do with it, and more broadly housing market doldrums and ongoing recession fears may keep anyone from being too optimistic. Maybe the lingering effect of service provider and vendor consolidation also is keeping the waters muddy. Is this all forming the recipe for another downturn?

We want to know what you think. Take our brand new poll asking if the telecom industry is headed for another downturn. And, please post any more extensive comments you might have about the financial health of the industry, and the direction in which you think various industry health indicators are pointing.

- Dan

Level 3 loss improves, no job cuts yet

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 06:59:54 -0500

Level 3 Communications reported fourth-quarter 2007 earnings this morning that showed improvement in the company's ongoing profit loss. For Q4, the carrier posted a $91 million loss that was far better than the $174 million loss it reported for the same quarter in 2006. Level 3 also did not announce any job cuts, at least as of this writing Thursday morning. There had been published reports a consultant recommended the carrier slash 1,100 jobs, or about 16% of its workforce. But, Janco Partners analyst Donna Jaegers, who follows Level 3 closely, suggested that would not be the case.

For more:
- read this Associated Press story at CNN Money

Related articles:
- Level 3 has made numerous moves in the content delivery sector

Verizon Q4 2007 Earnings

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 01:01:56 -0500

Verizon 2007 Revenue Tops $93.5B

Telecom heavyweight Verizon Communications reported its 2007 year-end and fourth quarter earnings this morning. The company's 2007 revenues were $93.5 billion, an increase of $5.3 billion over 2006. As usual, the firm's wireless unit helped the company meet its fourth quarter and year-end expectations with its robust growth.

Fierce reporters have broken down the company's fourth quarter results and what they mean to each market segment: wireless, mobile content, IPTV and telecom.

Here are the stories:

2007

Level 3 CEO compensation hits$10.7 million

AP: Windstream CEO made $4.2 million

China Telecom sees profit, local revenue dip

Appeals panel gives Nacchio second chance

Seidenberg takes home $20.3 million

AT&T CEO collects $18 million in pay, perks

PCCW looks for international opportunities

Sprint Nextel reports $29.5 billion loss

Nortel to cut 2,100 jobs after big Q4 loss

Qwest net income increases, revenue slides

Is another telecom downturn coming?

Level 3 loss improves, no job cuts yet

Verizon Q4 2007 Earnings

Verizon 2007 Revenue Tops $93.5B

Verizon Business details its third quarter

Verizon profit surges 31 percent

Seidenberg optimistic about telecom, wants to fix Knicks

Verizon net income up 12% on wireless, FiOS

Verizon says it'll raise FiOS prices again

Verizon posts 263K TV customer boost

Verizon Q1 profit rises, TV subs up 263,000

Retirees: Separate Verizon chairman, CEO jobs

Seidenberg sees no ill economic effects

Seidenberg takes home $20.3 million