It compared with a net profit of $1.1bn, or 57 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Operating revenues were $7.4bn, 8.9 per cent higher than the year earlier period.
BellSouth’s data revenues rose 25.3% year-on-year to $1.1bn. The company’s digital subscriber line (DSL) business accounted for almost 15% of total revenues after BellSouth gained 78,000 customers for the service in the second quarter, bringing its total subscriber number to 381,000 customers.
Wireless revenues were $1.4bn in the second quarter, a gain of 37.5% on the second quarter of last year. Cingular had 21.2m customers on June 30 after the company introduced the first nationwide wireless billing service and a relocation programme for customers moving to different parts of the US.
Revenues from BellSouth’s Latin America region, which includes 11 countries, were $744m. The figures did not include revenues from its wireless operations in Colombia, which were bought in July 2000 and would have cut earnings per share by 2 cents.
Shares in BellSouth closed at $40.80 on Friday. Trading was suspended ahead of an analysts’ conference on Monday morning in New York.
First half net profit fell 4.7% to $1.95bn, from $1.08bn in the first six months of 2000. Operating revenue for the first half rose 9.7% to $14.5bn.
