Pension Costs, Sandy Hit Verizon, Prepping for 'Relatively Flat' 2013

Verizon says pension costs and damage from Hurricane Sandy will cause it to take a one-time charge of between $9 billion and $10 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Hurricane Sandy, which blasted the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast last fall, is responsible for about $1 billion of that, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam told investors on Monday, according to Fox Business. Another $7 billion is connected to changes in pensions and another $1.5 billion in restructuring costs.

McAdam said he expects 2013 to be "relatively flat," but he anticipates 130,000 new FiOS cable and Internet customers during the year. He called Q4 2012 the best quarter ever for Verizon Wireless, which had a net addition of 2.1 million subscribers.

The company in December transferred $7.5 billion worth of pension plans to Prudential Insurance, which converted them into annuities, much to the chagrin of some pensioners who unsuccessfully filed suit to stop it.

Verizon’s full fourth-quarter results will be released on Jan. 24.

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