Windstream Rebounds With Small Profit, But Revenue Falls

Windstream on Thursday reported $1.5 million in profit, and $1.36 billion in total revenue for the second quarter of 2016.

That compares to a $111 million loss, and $1.42 billion in total revenue for the same quarter in 2015. Windstream finished the transfer of all of its shares in Communications Sales & Leasing (CS&L), a real estate investment trust (REIT) and Windstream spinoff, in a debt-for-equity exchange to retire about $672 million in debt. Over the last 12 months, the company has reduced its debt by $740 million.

“We are making solid progress on achieving our 2016 goals,” said Tony Thomas, Windstream’s president and CEO. “Each business unit is executing an operational strategy to advance the goal of stabilizing and growing operating cash flow over time. We are making the right investments and optimizing the balance sheet — all of which will drive improving results and create value for investors.

Service revenue totaled $1.33 billion in the second quarter, down from $1.38 billion for the year-ago quarter, Windstream said. Consumer and small business ILEC service revenues totaled $395 million, a 2 percent decrease from the year-ago quarter.{ad}

Carrier service revenue was $160 million, a 7 percent drop year to year. Legacy declines were partially offset by growth in Ethernet, WAVE sales and sales to new customer verticals.

Enterprise service revenue was $491 million, up 3 percent from the year-ago quarter. Data and integrated services revenues were up 5.6 percent.

Small business CLEC service revenue was $125 million, down 12 percent. Windstream’s SMB CLEC strategy includes expanding relationships of existing customers, and targeting new sales with a narrower, simplified product set.