Qwest Reports $91 Million Second-Quarter Loss

The Denver-based phone company said the second quarter loss amounted to 5 cents per share, which was smaller than the 7 cent loss expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.

Qwest did not provide a year-to-year comparison, saying its process of restating earnings for 2000 and 2001 would affect 2002 figures.

However, in August 2002, the company reported a second quarter loss of $1.14 billion, blaming investment losses and WorldCom Inc.'s bankruptcy for the results.

Revenue was $3.6 billion in the second quarter of 2003, even with what was reported a year ago but down 0.8 percent from the first quarter of 2003. Qwest blamed the declining revenues in part on competitive pressures in local phone markets, but said the lost revenue was partially offset by continued growth in long-distance and data services.

"During the quarter we made significant progress on our plans to position the company for solid, long-term profitable growth," Richard C. Notebaert, Qwest chairman and CEO, said in a written statement. "We now have the elements in place to offer businesses and consumers a wide-array of communications bundles."

Qwest added long-distance service to 590,000 access lines in its local service area during the quarter, bring the total number of new access lines to 1.12 million in 2003.

Qwest said it is essentially complete with the restatement of its financial statements from 2000 and 2001, but expects to have discussions with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the course of finalizing those reports.

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