EMBARQ reports record cash flow, lower revenue for Q4 and 2008

On Thursday EMBARQ reported total Q4 revenues of $1.48 billion, (diluted) earnings per share of $1.34 and cash flow before dividends of $295 million. 

For 2008, EMBARQ had total revenues of $6.12 billion, operating income of $1.63 billion, diluted earnings per share of $5.22 and cash flow of nearly $1.1 billion, prior to distributing dividends. The cash flow number is an increase of more than 19 percent over 2007 and exceeded the company's outlook for the year. However, Q4 operating revenue was down 6.2 percent year-over-year, and the yearly revenue was down 3.8 percent compared to 2007.

Data and Internet revenues were up, with $800 million in data revenue for a 4.7 percent year-over-year growth rate. High-speed Internet revenue was up 12.3 percent as compared to 2007 and totaled $549 million in 2008.

Like other carriers, EMBARQ lost land lines and added high-speed Internet and video customers. The company reports it ended the year with 5.7 million access lines, 9.8 percent less than what they had in 2007. Absolute line losses have increased as well, with the company losing 157,000 lines in Q4 as compared to 91,000 in Q4 2007.

For the year, the company had 1.41 million high-speed Internet subscribers, a 10.6 increase compared to 2007. EMBARQ had 297,000 video subscribers at the end of the year, an increase of 48.5 percent from 2007.

For more:
- EMBARQ reports its numbers

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