AT&T Wireless Posts Third-Quarter Loss

The cellular telephone company reported a loss of $2.04 billion, or 76 cents a share for the July to September quarter, compared to a profit of $77 million, or 3 cents a share, for the same period a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, AT&T Wireless reported a profit of 4 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had projected the company to break even on that basis.

Revenue for the quarter was $4.1 billion, a 16.2 percent increase over the $3.5 billion in 2001.

Shares of AT&T Wireless closed down 12 cents a share to $5.45 on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday. In extended trading after the company's earnings announcement, shares were up 26 cents.

"Our focus and commitment to deliver solid results is steadfast," said chairman John Zeglis. "We're balancing growth with profitability."

The company reported more than $2 billion in writedowns, due in part to new accounting principles that require companies to annually assess the value of intangible assets, such as wireless licenses. It also wrote down the value of investments in publicly traded companies, reflecting the weakness that has plagued much of the telecommunications industry.

The company's results were solid, said Rick Black, an analyst with Blaylock and Partners LP in New York, although the carrier's new 201,000 net subscribers was lower than his forecast of 354,000.

AT&T Wireless expects to add up to 2.2 million new subscribers to its network, in addition to 839,000 added by the company's acquisition of TeleCorp earlier this year.

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, the company reported a loss of $2.2 billion, or 82 cents a share, compared to a profit of $264 million, or 10 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

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